Larry Fink, chief executive of BlackRock, has positioned asset tokenization as a transformative technology comparable to the early internet, arguing in a shareholder letter that it offers a path to democratize investment access and address wealth inequality. Fink drew parallels between tokenization today and the internet in 1996, noting that while existing financial infrastructure will not disappear overnight, a parallel system of digital asset rails is already being constructed.
According to Fink, tokenization fundamentally reduces friction in capital markets by enabling faster, cheaper, and more accessible issuance, trading, and purchase of asset rights through digital registries rather than traditional brokerage channels. The technology could make smartphone-based investing as seamless as mobile payments, he argued, while extending opportunities beyond wealthy investors with established broker relationships. Fink called on governments to establish clear investor protections, risk standards, and digital identity frameworks to combat money laundering rather than impeding development.
BlackRock has already deployed $150 billion in digital assets, manages the world's largest tokenized fund in BUIDL, holds $65 billion in stablecoin issuer reserves, and oversees $80 billion in client cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds. Fink argued that traditional banking, corporate, and government financing channels are insufficient to fund major economic transitions in manufacturing, energy, and artificial intelligence, requiring fundamentally new capital-raising instruments. He also cited structural deficiencies in the U.S. Social Security system, proposing that pension reform must include access to long-term market returns to ensure the program's viability.