Wells Fargo is already moving cross-border money in two minutes or less using tokenized deposits — and the system is live in production, not a pilot. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley told investors this week that tokenization will grow their trading and advice businesses, not kill them, a clear sign that Wall Street now sees blockchain rails as a money-maker.
Key points:
- Wells Fargo's tokenized deposits are live, settling cross-border payments in 2 minutes or less, though volumes are still small.
- Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon says tokenization and DeFi could create new trading products and clients, like electronic trading did.
- Morgan Stanley says faster, easier asset transfers will raise demand for wealth advice; no bank gave a revenue forecast.
Goldman Sachs is leaning hardest into trading. CEO David Solomon was asked on the bank's third-quarter earnings call whether tokenization, DeFi and prediction markets could eat into trading revenue — and he said they could do the opposite, creating more products, wider distribution and new clients. He compared the shift to electronic stock trading almost 50 years ago, which once raised the same fears before Goldman's equities business grew. The bank has been building its GS DAP digital asset platform since 2022, has worked on tokenized bonds, money market funds and real estate, and joined a DTCC tokenization test run in July — though Solomon admits current activity is still small.
Wells Fargo is furthest ahead on payments. CFO Michael Santomassimo stressed that its tokenized deposit system "is in production, by the way," with money reaching beneficiary accounts in two minutes or less, even if volumes are small so far. Because Wells Fargo lacks a large overseas branch network, tokenized deposits could help it win cross-border payments business without building one. The bank also sees tokenized securities, real-world assets and crypto trading for wealth clients ahead, but gave no timeline for those services.
Morgan Stanley is focused on advice. CFO Sharon Yeshaya said a tokenized world makes it faster and easier to move assets around — and that clients will still need advice, in fact more of it. The bank is investing in digital tools across wealth management and institutional securities, but announced no new tokenization product. Notably, none of the three banks put a revenue number on the opportunity, which tells traders this is a positioning race, not yet a profit story.
What happens next?
For traders, the message is that the biggest US banks are now building on the same rails crypto pioneered — tokenized deposits, bonds and stocks that can move around the clock — while Bitcoin held near $81,500 as the bank comments landed. The next proof points are volume and money: whether Wells Fargo's "small" payment volumes grow, whether Goldman's tokenized trading products win clients, and whether any bank dares to attach a revenue forecast next earnings season.
— Crypto News Daily News Desk
This post is news only, not financial advice. Always do your own research before buying or selling crypto.
Sources: CoinDesk, Traders Union, CryptoUK