Traditional Finance Meets Blockchain: Wall Street Giants Reshape Crypto’s Business Model

BlackRock Expands Tokenized Financial Infrastructure

Major asset manager BlackRock has introduced two new tokenized money market products designed to support stablecoin issuers in meeting reserve requirements under the new US GENIUS Act. The first product tokenizes BlackRock’s existing Treasury liquidity strategy on Ethereum, enabling approved investors to hold and transfer shares onchain while underlying assets remain in cash and short-term government securities. A second institutional offering supports multiple blockchains and automatically reinvests income, making it ideal for stablecoin reserve management.

This expansion reflects BlackRock’s deepening commitment to onchain financial products, building on its BUIDL fund—already the industry’s largest tokenized Treasury product. The moves follow the GENIUS Act’s establishment of a federal framework for payment stablecoins, signaling that Wall Street sees blockchain-based financial infrastructure as a critical frontier for growth.

Stablecoins Generate Banking-Scale Profits

Tether’s second-quarter results underscore this shift toward banking-like business models. The company reported $1.5 billion in net operating profit, primarily from interest earned on its US Treasury holdings and repurchase agreements. Tether’s reserve buffer reached $4.11 billion as of June 30, with assets exceeding liabilities by that amount.

Despite broader stablecoin market contraction, USDT’s circulating supply grew by $446 million to $184.6 billion, preserving Tether’s dominance at over 60% of the roughly $307 billion global stablecoin market. Tether’s Treasury income—boosted by elevated short-term interest rates—now represents a substantial, predictable revenue stream structurally similar to traditional bank operations.

Tokenized gold has also emerged as a notable asset class, with first-quarter spot trading reaching $90.7 billion while gold futures rallied above $5,600 per troy ounce. However, DeFi adoption remains surprisingly limited: only $63 million of Tether Gold and PAX Gold serves as collateral on Aave v3 and Morpho, representing just 1.5% of their combined $4.2 billion market cap. A RedStone report confirmed tokenized gold’s resilience during March’s sharp sell-off—when gold fell 10% in one week—but flagged infrastructure gaps as real-world assets scale.

Mining Focuses on Profitability Over Price Speculation

Even Bitcoin mining is evolving beyond price-driven economics. American Bitcoin, the Nasdaq-listed miner co-founded by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., reported record second-quarter production of 932 BTC and lifted mining revenue 8% to $67 million. Its net loss improved significantly to $57.2 million from $81.8 million in the first quarter, though the company remains unprofitable. American Bitcoin held approximately 8,002 BTC as of June 30 and has pledged about 3,090 BTC as collateral under equipment purchase agreements.

The broader pattern is unmistakable: as major institutions build banking-like systems—stablecoin reserves, tokenized collateral, Treasury management—the crypto industry’s business model increasingly resembles traditional finance infrastructure rather than speculative asset markets. This shift signals that blockchain’s transformative potential lies in reshaping financial infrastructure rather than replacing traditional banking—a vision requiring efficient, transparent systems operating at global scale.

Source: Cointelegraph. Not financial advice.