BNY to bring transfer agency records onchain in blockchain pushBNY is launching a blockchain-based transfer agency platform as the bank expands its digital asset infrastructure and moves core financial records onchain.
Reported by Cointelegraph · AI-assisted summary by ChikoCorp AI News Desk
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BNY Mellon, one of the world’s largest custodian banks, is launching a blockchain-based version of its transfer agency business, which manages fund ownership records and investor transactions. This marks a significant move toward blockchain-based financial infrastructure, as the bank plans to bring the books and records of fund ownership onchain. Transfer agents like BNY maintain official records of fund share ownership, process investor transactions, and support communication between funds and investors. Traditionally, this ownership data has been stored in multiple systems requiring frequent reconciliation.
BNY’s transfer agency services currently cover approximately $8.6 trillion in assets across 7.6 million accounts, while the firm oversees more than $59 trillion in assets under custody and administration. The bank will maintain its traditional transfer agency services alongside the new blockchain platform. By moving these records onchain, BNY aims to create a shared, transparent source of information for market participants, reducing the reliance on separate databases and manual reconciliations.
Early users of the digital transfer agency platform reportedly include Edinburgh-based asset manager Baillie Gifford, which plans to use the system for the first fully native United Kingdom-regulated tokenized fund. Other anticipated users include the BlackRock and BNY Dreyfus money market fund and cash management business, which intend to use the service for upcoming tokenized funds. Baillie Gifford's head of digital assets, Theo Golden, described the blockchain as a shared source of truth for monitoring asset dealings.
BNY has not disclosed which blockchain network will support the new platform, and the bank did not respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment by the time of publication. This initiative aligns with BNY’s broader digital asset expansion, including progress under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, positioning the bank for the next phase of institutional blockchain adoption.