BlackRock published a 2026 thematic outlook on Wednesday that highlights Ethereum as a likely hub for tokenized assets and stablecoins, potentially linking traditional finance with blockchain markets. The report says Ethereum already underpins about 65% of tokenized assets and could benefit as firms move toward on-chain settlement (Ed. note: this trend remains early and evolving). 2026 thematic outlook
Jay Jacobs, U.S. Head of Equity ETFs at BlackRock, authored the report and said tokenization could drive additional trading and issuance on Ethereum. He noted that tokenization is one of the fastest-growing blockchain use cases and that Ethereum is a clear beneficiary. “If you’re an investor looking to play the growing adoption of blockchain technology, one of the best and probably fastest-growing use cases right now is tokenization, and Ethereum is a beneficiary of that trend.”
The report states Ethereum supports roughly $13.2 billion in real-world assets manageable in-wallet, while the permissioned Canton Network records about $362 billion in assets, per RWA.xyz. BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund, BUIDL, holds about $1.6 billion, split between Ethereum ($499 million) and BNB Chain ($503 million).
BlackRock also highlights rising stablecoin activity, which now outpaces spot crypto trading volumes, implying tokenized assets may be used beyond speculation. Data on the firm’s ETFs shows $70.6 billion and $10.7 billion in assets for its flagship Bitcoin and Ethereum funds, respectively, per CoinGlass.
