
UK-based investment manager Baillie Gifford has launched the Baillie Gifford Enhanced Yield Fund (BAGEY) natively on the Ethereum blockchain. This deployment marks a significant shift in RWA tokenization, as the blockchain serves as the legal register of record for investor ownership rather than relying on traditional transfer agents. By issuing the fund interests directly on-chain, the firm eliminates the need for separate off-chain record-keeping systems, which simplifies administration and enhances auditability. This move follows the firm's recent launch of a similar product on the Solana blockchain, signaling a broader strategy to integrate public infrastructure into regulated financial products. The BAGEY fund focuses on short-duration government and corporate bonds, utilizing the blockchain to streamline reconciliation and transparency. Unlike many existing tokenized products that act as wrappers for traditional funds, these tokens represent the actual fund interests themselves. This development underscores a growing trend among major asset managers to move beyond pilot programs toward live, regulated on-chain financial architecture.
Baillie Gifford is a prominent independent investment management firm based in the UK with a long history of managing global assets. The firm has recently begun exploring public blockchain infrastructure to modernize the issuance and administration of its regulated investment products. By leveraging distributed ledger technology, they aim to replace legacy record-keeping systems with transparent, on-chain registries.