Key Takeaways
- • BNP Paribas Asset Management has issued a tokenised share class of a French-domiciled money market fund on the public Ethereum network, marking the firm's first deployment of tokenised assets on public blockchain infrastructure.
- • The tokenised fund operates under a permissioned access model that restricts holdings and transfers to authorised participants, ensuring compliance with applicable regulatory requirements despite use of public blockchain rails.
- • The initiative leverages BNP Paribas' AssetFoundry platform and represents a coordinated effort across three internal business units: Asset Management, CIB AssetFoundry, and Securities Services, demonstrating institutional capacity to execute end-to-end tokenised fund processes.
- • This represents BNP Paribas' second tokenised money market fund project, following an earlier Luxembourg-domiciled issuance on private blockchain, signalling the firm's multi-modal approach to fund tokenisation across different technological and operational infrastructures.
Summary
BNP Paribas Asset Management has advanced its tokenisation strategy by issuing a tokenised share class of an existing French-domiciled money market fund directly on the public Ethereum blockchain, according to a press release dated February 20, 2026. This initiative marks a significant step in the firm's exploration of public blockchain infrastructure for asset distribution, distinct from its prior private blockchain experiments.
The tokenised fund operates through a permissioned access framework that restricts both holdings and transfers to eligible and authorised participants. This regulatory-compliant structure allows BNP Paribas to leverage the transparency, settlement efficiency, and network effects of public blockchain infrastructure while maintaining institutional control over participation. The shares were issued via BNP Paribas' AssetFoundry platform, the firm's proprietary digital asset technology stack.
The project represents a coordinated effort across three BNP Paribas business divisions: Asset Management, which structured and issued the fund; CIB AssetFoundry, which provided tokenisation infrastructure; and Securities Services, which supported operational execution. This intra-group collaboration enabled testing of new end-to-end fund processes from issuance through investor servicing.
The Ethereum deployment follows BNP Paribas' earlier tokenised money market fund issuance in Luxembourg on a private blockchain network. Together, these two initiatives reflect the firm's deliberate exploration of multiple tokenisation and distribution models—contrasting public versus private blockchains and permissioned versus alternative access frameworks—to identify operational and client-serving advantages across different technological approaches. This diversified experimental strategy positions BNP Paribas to scale tokenisation capabilities as institutional and regulatory frameworks mature.
The tokenised fund operates through a permissioned access framework that restricts both holdings and transfers to eligible and authorised participants. This regulatory-compliant structure allows BNP Paribas to leverage the transparency, settlement efficiency, and network effects of public blockchain infrastructure while maintaining institutional control over participation. The shares were issued via BNP Paribas' AssetFoundry platform, the firm's proprietary digital asset technology stack.
The project represents a coordinated effort across three BNP Paribas business divisions: Asset Management, which structured and issued the fund; CIB AssetFoundry, which provided tokenisation infrastructure; and Securities Services, which supported operational execution. This intra-group collaboration enabled testing of new end-to-end fund processes from issuance through investor servicing.
The Ethereum deployment follows BNP Paribas' earlier tokenised money market fund issuance in Luxembourg on a private blockchain network. Together, these two initiatives reflect the firm's deliberate exploration of multiple tokenisation and distribution models—contrasting public versus private blockchains and permissioned versus alternative access frameworks—to identify operational and client-serving advantages across different technological approaches. This diversified experimental strategy positions BNP Paribas to scale tokenisation capabilities as institutional and regulatory frameworks mature.
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