Traditional Finance Embraces Blockchain: JPMorgan Launches Tokenized Fund While Ripple Expands Stablecoin Network

JPMorgan Enters Tokenized Finance with MONY Fund

Wall Street banking giant JPMorgan has launched its first tokenized money market fund through its $4 trillion asset management arm, marking a significant expansion of traditional finance into blockchain-based assets ^[2].

In a December 15 announcement, the firm revealed that the My OnChain Net Yield Fund ("MONY") is now available on the Ethereum blockchain ^[2]. The fund is powered by JPMorgan's own Kinexys Digital Assets platform, which is described as a multi-chain asset tokenization solution ^[2].

According to JPMorgan, the bank is now the largest globally systemically important bank (GSIB) to launch a tokenized money market fund on a public blockchain ^[2]. The tokenized fund provides investors with increased transparency, peer-to-peer transferability, and the potential for broader collateral usage within the blockchain ecosystem ^[2].

MONY is structured as a 506(c) private placement fund that provides qualified investors the opportunity to earn US dollar yields by subscribing through the bank's trading platform, Morgan Money ^[2]. According to a Wall Street Journal report, MONY is seeded with $100 million from the bank's asset management division and is set to open this week ^[2].

The fund will only invest in traditional US Treasury securities and repurchase agreements that are fully collateralized by US Treasury securities ^[2]. Daily dividend reinvestment will be available for investors, allowing them to subscribe and redeem using either cash or stablecoins through the Morgan Money platform ^[2].

Donohue, whose full title was not specified in the announcement, stated that the launch of MONY "marks a significant step forward in how assets will be traded in the future" ^[2].

Ripple Expands RLUSD Stablecoin to Layer-2 Networks

In a separate development, Ripple Labs announced on Monday that it will test its US dollar-pegged stablecoin RLUSD on multiple Ethereum Layer-2 networks as part of a pilot project ^[1]. The networks include Optimism, Base, Ink, and Unichain ^[1].

The stablecoin was previously available on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum itself, following its official launch in December 2024 ^[1]. Mastercard is also utilizing the stablecoin ^[1].

For the technical implementation, Ripple is working with the interoperability protocol Wormhole ^[1]. The company is using the Native Token Transfers Standard, which enables RLUSD to move between blockchains without relying on synthetic or wrapped tokens ^[1].

According to Wormhole, this approach allows RLUSD to remain a unified, native stablecoin on each supported blockchain, with Ripple controlling the respective smart contracts ^[1]. Ripple explained that the expansion to Layer-2 networks is a central component of a scalable and interoperable infrastructure to support institutional usage and on-chain applications ^[1].

The complete rollout to additional blockchains is planned for the coming year, but remains subject to final regulatory approvals ^[1]. RLUSD is issued under a trust license from the New York Department of Financial Services ^[1]. Additionally, Ripple has filed an application for a federal banking license with the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ^[1].

Growing Tokenized Asset Market

JPMorgan joins other major financial institutions that have launched tokenized funds on blockchains, with money market funds currently leading the way ^[2]. Franklin Templeton was one of the first traditional finance firms to launch a tokenized fund with BENJI in 2021, followed by BlackRock's BUIDL fund in 2024 with tokenization specialist Securitize ^[2]. BUIDL currently has over $1.8 billion in assets, according to data from RWA.xyz ^[2].

The tokenized fund asset class has grown from $3 billion to $9 billion in the past 12 months, data from RWA.xyz shows ^[2]. In a joint report published earlier this year, Ripple Labs and Boston Consulting Group projected that the tokenized asset market will grow to $18.9 trillion by 2033 ^[2].