How Asian family offices are adapting to crypto with institutional capital

I came across an interesting article for tokenization of assets. Sharing the story here. BlackRock CEO thinks tokenization of all assets is just ‘beginning’ – Details Fink called tokenization a game-changing innovation that lets investors, including crypto holders, access long-term products like ETFs on blockchain platforms. What tokenized products has BlackRock already launched? BlackRock currently manages BUIDL, a tokenized money market fund with $2.8 billion AUM. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink struck an optimistic tone in a recent interview with CNBC’s Squawk on the Street. He highlighted the firm’s strong third-quarter results, while also touching upon its expanding footprint across key financial verticals. Larry Fink on tokenization Fink noted that the company’s growth has been broad-based, driven by robust performances in cash management, AI-powered equity strategies, and blockchain initiatives. Looking ahead, he spotlighted the tokenization of real-world assets, including real estate, equities, and bonds, as the “next wave of opportunity.” He also positioned this initiative as a central pillar of BlackRock’s long-term innovation strategy. Fink said, “You know, I do believe we’re just at the beginning of the tokenization of all assets, from real estate to equities.” During the interview, Fink also outlined how tokenization could fundamentally transform the investment landscape. He explained that blockchain-based tokenization would bridge traditional finance with digital infrastructure. This approach would allow investors, even those using digital wallets or crypto holdings, to seamlessly access conventional long-term financial products such as ETFs. Details of his vision As part of this vision, Fink revealed that BlackRock already operates a tokenized money market fund – BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity (BUIDL) Fund. It also manages one of the largest Bitcoin [BTC] ETFs in existence, with assets surpassing $100 billion. In short, once a crypto skeptic, Fink candidly admitted that he now “loves it,” signaling how institutional confidence in digital assets has evolved over the years. Fink also cited decades of market resilience, from the dot-com crash to the pandemic. In doing so, he emphasized that staying invested through volatility allows compounding to work in investors’ favor. “It’s about being in the market, being focused on this over a long horizon.” BlackRock’s growth so far The discussion arose on the back of BlackRock’s rapid growth across markets. Its Spot-based Bitcoin and Ethereum [ETH] ETFs remain the largest of their kind in the U.S, with $93 billion and $17 billion in AUM, respectively. As it stands, BlackRock plans to expand its tokenized products, potentially including its flagship crypto and traditional ETFs. In facr, according to a Bloomberg report, BlackRock is exploring plans to bring stocks and other real-world assets on-chain, allowing them to trade as digital tokens

Institutional capital is now at the forefront of reshaping crypto market dynamics, marking a significant shift from the retail-dominated era. Insights from key industry players at the Token2049 conference in Singapore highlight a profound transformation in Bitcoin's investor base, moving towards long-term allocations driven by institutions like Bitwise Asset Management and Aspen Digital. Hong Kim, CTO and co-founder of Bitwise, emphasizes the monumental impact of Bitcoin ETFs, drawing parallels to Bitcoin's "IPO moment." This shift is exemplified by the impressive $30 billion inflow in the first year of Bitcoin ETFs and an additional $20 billion this year. Every quarter sees steady inflows ranging from $5 to $10 billion, indicating a consistent and robust demand pattern. This trend underscores a sustainable investment strategy over previous cycles, with U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs now holding assets equivalent to 6.8% of Bitcoin's total market value, showcasing institutional commitment. Elliot Andrews, CEO of Aspen Digital, underscores the growing adoption of a long-term perspective by family offices and high-net-worth individuals. The allure of speculative, high-volatility returns is fading, replaced by a preference for diversified portfolios that include crypto as a stable, albeit small, component. The maturation of infrastructure supporting institutional participation has eased previous concerns. Kim notes the stabilization of custody solutions, with trusted custodians like Coinbase, Anchorage, and Fidelity leading the way. Structural and political developments in the U.S. and globally have further catalyzed this shift, allowing wealthier clients to engage confidently in the crypto space. Andrews recounts how their firm emerged as a trusted partner when private banks hesitated to enter the crypto arena. Analysts suggest that the emergence and growth of institutional vehicles have contributed to reduced market volatility, transforming speculative trading into steady flows from wealth managers and investment advisers. This evolution leads Bitcoin to reach new heights, buoyed by increased institutional engagement. The crypto landscape is evolving, with institutional capital paving the way for a more stable and enduring market. As retail dominance wanes, the crypto industry stands poised for a new era driven by strategic investments. #CryptoInnovation #InstitutionalInvestment #Blockchain https://lnkd.in/em9EKyzs

I spoke at the Digital Asset Summit in London this week — sharing the buy side/allocator perspective on digital assets. My message was simple: the timeless principles of investing still apply. You understand risk. You weigh reward. You value optionality. You manage the trade with discipline. —— Something personal: Years ago, my friend Kelly LeValley Hunt told me, “Buy Bitcoin.” It was $400. And I didn’t buy it. I couldn’t make it fit inside my traditional equity mindset — the one that wants to see cash flow, dividends, tangible proof. Bitcoin had none of that. It felt abstract, speculative, unserious. Another tulip craze, I thought. But then time passed. And I watched. I saw that every great innovation begins as a punchline. The railroad. The telephone. The Internet. They all started in mania, ended in transformation. So I stopped asking, “Is this a bubble?” and started asking, “What is this trying to tell us?” And what it told me was that trust — that fragile, essential thing that underpins all markets — was being rebuilt from the ground up. That money itself was being re-imagined, not by decree, but by design. So yes, I found my way to crypto the old-fashioned way — I ignored it for years, mocked it once or twice, then surrendered. —— Crypto is still a risky asset, of course. But it’s one with high optionality. And optionality is something to respect, not to leverage. Some learned that lesson again last weekend, when the market turned in a flash and wiped out years of gains for those leveraged. There will always be sceptics. There were with NVIDIA, too — remember that? The commentators who called it a bubble and gleefully taped a Cisco chart next to it? Skeptics are good for markets. They keep our confidence honest. The digital asset builders are tokenizing real-world assets — turning ideas once confined to balance sheets into living, tradable pieces of the financial system. Even BlackRock’s Larry Fink, once a skeptic, now speaks of crypto with the conviction of a convert. His shift is telling. It’s a sign that the center of gravity in finance is moving — quietly, steadily — toward the digital frontier. We’re still in the early chapters of this story. The builders in digital assets aren’t chasing headlines; they’re fixing the plumbing of finance — settlement rails, infrastructure, security. This moment feels like the early 2000s — when people said the Internet was finished, and quietly, Amazon and Google were being built. That’s where we are now: the boring but brilliant phase. But one truth will never change. The old rules still apply. Discipline. Research. Sizing. Risk management. Understanding cycles. Anyone can look smart in a bull market — it’s staying solvent through the bear that defines you. As Warren Buffett likes to say, “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.” And in crypto, the tide goes out often. #crypto #risk #investing ** not investment advice. Please do your research **

According to Mark Twain, "History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme", and to me Tokenization rhymes with Derivatives - even as "BlackRock CEO Larry Fink Declares “Tokenization of All Assets” Era Has Begun" ( https://lnkd.in/geneqP_2) Below is my 3-point assessment comparing Tokenization and Derivatives - highlighting the risks of pricing inaccuracies, gambling nature and butterfly effect. Point 1, Tokenization is a representation of ownership of an asset (which usually is illiquid) and Derivatives is a contract with value derived from its underlying asset. In the essence, both are perceived/appraised value of the asset, and not the actual value of the asset that can be sold/bought e.g. hypothetically, getting a valuation of a HDB (a Singapore public housing) at $2m does not necessary mean that the HDB can and will be sold at $2m - but Tokenization is expected to sell its tokens at the valuation that may never be realized. This is pricing inaccuracies that impedes an efficient market. Point 2, similar to Derivatives, Tokenization seeks to unlock value and increase liquidity, and even "artificially" increase economic activity together with GDP without actual creation of new and real consumables - goods and services e.g. Derivatives during the subprime allowed homeowners to enjoy unlocking wealth and continued purchasing of homes at unstainable increasing prices - and Tokenization can have the same effect from point 1 of inefficient pricing. This is promoting gambling nature in a casino market with no actual improved benefits to fellow humans. Point 3, both Tokenization and Derivatives allow assets to spin a web of interconnectedness across worldwide investors with varying portfolio quality and risk profiles e.g. comparable to the subprime crisis leading up to the Great Recession. This is the Butterfly effect - that a small Butterfly flapping its wings can cause a Tornado far away.

"Nearly 60% of institutional investors plan to increase their digital asset allocations in the coming year, and average exposure is expected to double within three years, State Street’s 2025 Digital Assets Outlook shows. More than half of investors expect up to a quarter of their portfolios to be tokenized by 2030, led by private market assets, the firm said." #digitalassets #crypto #cryptoadoption #tokenization

Hilton Family Office backs the future of AI-driven crypto research with a strategic investment in Technology Labs, empowering next-gen insights for every investor. https://lnkd.in/g358zkjy #HiltonWealth #WealthStrategy #GenerationalWealth #FinancialPlanning #SmartInvesting #WealthBuilding #TaxEfficiency #FamilyLegacy

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘀: 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 As crypto ETFs surpass $𝟭𝟴𝟬 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗨𝗠, the digital asset ecosystem is no longer an experimental frontier — it’s becoming an institutional mainstay. With BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 Grayscale Investments leading the charge and regulatory clarity advancing across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, institutional investors face a new strategic reality: the shift from direct crypto ownership to regulated, exchange-traded exposure. Our latest insight explores how 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 are redefining portfolio strategies from diversification and inflation hedging to the coming wave of 𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘂𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶-𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗘𝗧𝗙𝘀. Discover why the question is no longer if to engage, but how strategically to integrate digital assets into a future-proof portfolio. https://lnkd.in/dZGAy-Gv

S&P Global to Launch Innovative Crypto Ecosystem Index, a New Way to Combine Cryptocurrencies and Crypto-Linked Equities https://ow.ly/Iw1650X7Qqv #financialtechnology #Fintech #financial #finance #InsurTech #FintechNews #AIinFinance

Capital markets • "Marketnode CEO highlights demographic shift driving fund tokenization in Asia. Singapore and Hong Kong together manage roughly $10 trillion in discretionary wealth, while Asia accounts for 60% of the world’s population under the age of 30. This collision between massive capital and a digitally-native generation is forcing traditional fund managers to rethink distribution—or risk irrelevance. Rehan Ahmed, CEO of Asian blockchain infrastructure provider Marketnode, outlined how this demographic shift is reshaping the adoption of digital asset technologies in Asian wealth management markets during a panel discussion at Sibos. Marketnode operates a DLT (distributed ledger technology) fund administration platform in Singapore and Hong Kong. Founded by the Singapore Exchange and state-backed investment company Temasek, with HSBC and Euroclear as significant investors, the company sits at the intersection of traditional finance and tokenization initiatives. The younger demographic engages with financial products in fundamentally different ways than previous generations. They gravitate toward digital platforms and exchanges, and place less emphasis on privacy in favor of community-driven interactions. Ahmed cited the example of retail investors openly sharing their NFT portfolios during the recent digital collectibles boom. This comfort with public disclosure of holdings opens opportunities for social trading platforms and community-based fund distribution that traditional private banking models can’t match." Ledger insights https://lnkd.in/enc-tRqy