ICE agrees $5.7 billion MarketAxess acquisition, BlackRock expands tokenised fund access in Europe

BlackRock has significantly expanded its institutional tokenization efforts by launching 12 tokenized share classes for European money-market funds, representing a combined $311 billion in assets under management. These funds utilize JPMorgan’s Kinexys blockchain platform to mint tokens while maintaining the official shareholder register through traditional transfer agents. This development demonstrates the growing viability of Kinexys as institutional infrastructure that integrates on-chain functionality with established fund operations. Simultaneously, Aviva Investors received regulatory authorization from the Central Bank of Ireland to launch a tokenized share class of its US Dollar Liquidity Fund on the XRP Ledger. These moves highlight a broader trend of major financial institutions adopting blockchain to modernize fund distribution and liquidity management. Furthermore, Boerse Stuttgart Digital completed its merger with Tradias, consolidating institutional trading, custody, and tokenization services into a single 300-person unit. These events collectively signal a shift toward regulated, hybrid models where public and private blockchains support traditional financial assets at scale.