Crypto Biz: Crypto’s biggest business is starting to look a lot like banking

The digital asset industry is increasingly converging with traditional finance as stablecoin reserves, tokenized money market funds, and onchain collateral become primary revenue drivers. BlackRock has expanded its blockchain-based financial infrastructure by launching two new tokenized money market products designed to assist stablecoin issuers in meeting reserve requirements under the US GENIUS Act. One of these products tokenizes shares of an existing Treasury liquidity strategy on Ethereum, while the second supports multiple blockchains to facilitate automated income reinvestment. Simultaneously, Tether reported a $1.5 billion net operating profit in the second quarter, largely fueled by interest earned on its massive holdings of US Treasury securities. While tokenized gold has shown resilience during market volatility, RedStone research indicates that its adoption as collateral in decentralized finance protocols like Aave remains limited, with only 1.5% of its $4.2 billion market cap utilized onchain. These developments highlight a broader shift where Wall Street institutions are prioritizing onchain financial infrastructure to manage balance sheets and regulatory compliance. This trend underscores the growing importance of blockchain as a settlement and management layer for institutional-grade assets. Ultimately, the integration of these traditional financial instruments into the crypto ecosystem signals a maturation phase for the industry.