Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley are pursuing different commercial uses for tokenization, treating blockchain-based financial infrastructure as a potential extension of existing businesses rather than an immediate threat to them.
Goldman Sachs is focused on trading. Chief Executive David Solomon said tokenization, decentralized finance and prediction markets could create more products, activity, clients and distribution channels. He compared the development with the shift to electronic stock trading, while acknowledging that tokenization activity remains small and marginal today.
Goldman has operated its GS DAP digital-asset platform since 2022 and has explored tokenized bonds, money-market funds and real estate. The bank also participated in the Depository Trust Company’s July 15 production event, in which tokenized securities were used in live transactions. The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation plans to launch its tokenization service in October after testing use cases including collateral pledges, securities lending and securities transactions.
Wells Fargo is concentrating on payments. Chief Financial Officer Michael Santomassimo said the bank is already processing cross-border payments with tokenized deposits, with funds reaching beneficiary accounts in two minutes or less. He described the operation as production-based but still small in volume, and said the technology could help Wells Fargo expand cross-border payments without building a large overseas branch network.
Wells Fargo’s 2026 investment plans included a tokenized-deposit pilot aimed at improving cross-border payments. The bank has also identified possible applications in tokenized securities, real-world assets and crypto trading for wealth-management clients, without announcing launch dates for those services.
Morgan Stanley is emphasizing wealth management. Chief Financial Officer Sharon Yeshaya said faster movement of assets would not eliminate the need for advice, arguing that investors may require more guidance as transfers become easier. Morgan Stanley’s digital-asset work has also examined tokenized products, cross-border payments, collateral and access to foreign securities.
The figures are projections, not current revenue for the three banks, and none disclosed a tokenization revenue target in the earnings discussions described here.