Morgan Stanley is getting on-chain too, and my first reaction was to laugh: Wall Street used to call crypto a casino, and now it’s lining up to move U.S. stocks and Treasuries on-chain.
On one side, people are excited: that post on the Square said DTCC’s tokenization service went live on October 28, with Morgan Stanley among the first major banks to join. After tokenization, the CUSIP, ownership, and investor protections all remain unchanged, and the official records are still held at DTC—which basically means Wall Street has finally admitted that this technology isn’t just for speculating on shitcoins.
On the other side, people are pouring cold water on it: don’t get carried away just yet. This round is for institutions only, with eligibility requirements and compliance hurdles. It’s not like you’ll be able to freely trade U.S. stocks on a public blockchain tonight. If you want in, get in line—and first let’s see whether institutions can actually save on settlement costs.
Where I stand: I’m in the “this is real, but don’t rush into FOMO” camp. Big banks getting involved is a signal, not a signal that you’re about to get rich. There’s no harm in getting excited once retail investors can actually buy freely. For now, those rushing in and shouting about an RWA revolution will probably be the first to get fleeced by the hype.
What do you think? Now that Wall Street is getting on-chain, do you think traditional finance has finally surrendered, or is this just a new wrapper for the same closed-door game?
On one side, people are excited: that post on the Square said DTCC’s tokenization service went live on October 28, with Morgan Stanley among the first major banks to join. After tokenization, the CUSIP, ownership, and investor protections all remain unchanged, and the official records are still held at DTC—which basically means Wall Street has finally admitted that this technology isn’t just for speculating on shitcoins.
On the other side, people are pouring cold water on it: don’t get carried away just yet. This round is for institutions only, with eligibility requirements and compliance hurdles. It’s not like you’ll be able to freely trade U.S. stocks on a public blockchain tonight. If you want in, get in line—and first let’s see whether institutions can actually save on settlement costs.
Where I stand: I’m in the “this is real, but don’t rush into FOMO” camp. Big banks getting involved is a signal, not a signal that you’re about to get rich. There’s no harm in getting excited once retail investors can actually buy freely. For now, those rushing in and shouting about an RWA revolution will probably be the first to get fleeced by the hype.
What do you think? Now that Wall Street is getting on-chain, do you think traditional finance has finally surrendered, or is this just a new wrapper for the same closed-door game?
