Image source: BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas Asset Management issued a tokenized share class of a French‑domiciled money market fund, recorded on a public blockchain. The project is experimental and only accessible to authorized participants.
BNP Paribas Asset Management, the asset management arm of the French multinational financial group BNP Paribas, announced the tokenization of shares in a France-registered money market fund. Ownership rights for the fund’s shares under this initiative were recorded on the Ethereum blockchain.
As part of the initiative:
- BNP Paribas Asset Management acts as the issuer of the digital assets.
- Securities Services performs registrar and settlement functions for transactions with tokenized shares, as well as providing digital wallet setup and private key custody.
- The AssetFoundry platform handles token issuance and technical connection to the public blockchain.
According to Edouard Legrand, Chief Digital and Data Officer at BNP Paribas Asset Management, the project is limited in scope, with token ownership and transfer restricted to approved and verified participants in line with regulatory requirements. He noted that using restricted-access tokens on a public network allows the bank to explore the integration of blockchain infrastructure into a regulated investment fund structure while maintaining corporate governance, investor protection, and operational reliability.
This is BNP Paribas’s second tokenization project for money market funds. A previous issuance was carried out in Luxembourg using a private blockchain infrastructure. However, the current project differs in its technological and operational setup. Julien Clausse, Head of AssetFoundry, said the company plans to test different models of tokenization and distribution for investment funds.
Paul Daly, Head of Distribution Product Solutions at BNP Paribas Securities Services, emphasized that for money market funds, which play a key role in liquidity management for corporate and institutional investors, tokenization could offer an alternative to traditional batch processing, enabling more flexible and frequent settlement without regulatory breaches. He added that the tokenized fund issuance aims to enhance operational efficiency and security within a regulated environment, while also providing insights into operational and managerial aspects of money market fund tokenization.
While BNP Paribas is still testing tokenized products, the financial group JPMorgan already launched a tokenized money market fund on Ethereum, and BNY Mellon introduced a tokenized fund investing in AAA-rated collateralized loan obligations and implemented tokenized bank deposits for institutional clients. Meanwhile, DBS clients can use tokenized money market funds as collateral for loans.
