How Tokenized Cash Is Modernizing Money, Markets and Investing

Beccy Milchem · BlackRock

Stablecoins can't pay a return, so yield-bearing tokenized deposits and money market funds are the investable cash step.

She separates stablecoins, which she compares to cash in your pocket and which are backed by reserve assets, from tokenized cash such as tokenized bank deposits and tokenized money market funds. Stablecoins can move money and store value but cannot pay a return. Bank deposits and money market funds, in tokenized form or not, can pay yield. She says clients who want to earn yield on digital cash will move from stablecoins into tokenized money market funds, which can happen instantly.

“the distinction here is that stablecoins can't pay a return, whereas you have traditional cash investment tools, just bank deposits and money market funds with their tokenized wrapper that can have that return aspect, that yield aspect on them.”at 4:57

Beccy Milchem · BlackRock

New government rules on stablecoins and tokenized assets are driving adoption by building trust among institutions.

She says government rules were a major reason adoption has accelerated since 2024. Regulation brings comfort and trust to the space, which leads to more adoption. She cites rules governing how stablecoins and tokenized assets work, and points to the US GENIUS Act, which requires payment stablecoins to be backed by a defined pool of reserve assets.

“one of the things that really propelled it and probably since the last time we spoke was some of the rules that are coming out from governments. And when you start to get some regulations in this space, that starts to bring more comfort and trust”at 7:38

Beccy Milchem · BlackRock

Tokenized cash is moving beyond DeFi into traditional corporate use cases that make payments faster and more efficient.

Adoption of tokenized cash has been clear in the DeFi community, but she says in 2026 the more notable shift is traditional corporates and finance firms using the technology in day-to-day operations. She cites faster and more efficient money movement, including cross-border transfers, as the main use case. She describes corporates upgrading their traditional treasury management systems to incorporate blockchain.

“We've clearly seen adoption across the DeFi community, but what we're starting to see is some of the more traditional use cases where people are leveraging the technology to make themselves faster and more efficient.”at 8:33

Beccy Milchem · BlackRock

Programmable tokenized money could let AI and agentic workflows automate corporate cash movements without manual steps.

Once cash sits inside a tokenized wrapper it can be programmed. She says smart contracts can be set to execute a money movement when defined criteria are met, with no manual intervention. She links this to AI and agentic workflows, which could automate corporate cash management, supplier payments and investment decisions.

“you can tell it what to do. You can program it. And if we think about the ability to then use things like AI and that ability to use agentic workflows, you can have something that can be automated through that.”at 11:28

Beccy Milchem · BlackRock

Tokenized cash and yield-bearing funds will spread to every currency as regulation for non-dollar stablecoins develops.

Most stablecoin adoption so far has been in dollar-denominated coins. Corporates and investors around the world need digital cash in every currency, but reserve-asset rules for stablecoins are not yet finalised in most markets. As regulation emerges, she expects other-currency products to arrive. Yield-bearing solutions will follow in every currency, as traditional money market funds already exist in many currencies.

“we're gonna naturally want some yield bearing solutions in every form of currency.”at 16:42

Beccy Milchem · BlackRock

Legacy payment plumbing is inefficient, and tokenization can enable faster settlement, transparency and 24/7 cross-border payments.

Her cash team sees behind-the-scenes problems daily: multiple systems are not built to work together, so payments can take hours or even days to settle. She argues that technology can stop cash from sitting idle by speeding up settlement and improving transparency. Once tokenized, money can move around the clock across borders, 365 days a year.

“Behind the scenes, that plumbing for payments in particular isn't that efficient today, and it can take hours, sometimes days to settle transactions.”at 10:05

Rob Goldstein · BlackRock

Blockchain-based tokens will let one app handle money movement, investing and portfolios, replacing many single-purpose apps.

He asks whether phones in 2030 will hold more or fewer apps. If apps must do more, blockchain and related technologies become key enablers. He expects a single app where users move money, invest and build portfolios, possibly without knowing they bought a token of a fund or stock. He says his own children may want everything in a digital wallet, while his mother will not have one soon.

“If you think about your phone in the year 2030, do you have more or less apps on the phone? And if you believe that the apps you have are gonna have to do more things, the token and blockchain and the related technologies are important enablers”at 13:44

Beccy Milchem · BlackRock

Digital wallets are essential for blockchain activity, and cash is the entry point because investing requires cash.

She says a digital wallet is required to operate on a blockchain. Cash sits at the front of the ecosystem because every investment needs cash first. Digital payments are the first adoption, and clients then want cash that earns yield, such as money market funds. Over time, more assets will be held as tokenized wrappers in digital wallets, starting with cash, which is needed in every market.

“a digital wallet is a key part of the new ecosystem that we're talking about. You have to have it if you wanna operate on the blockchain. ... because you need cash to invest in anything.”at 14:37

Beccy Milchem · BlackRock

Cryptocurrencies are too volatile to act as cash, which is why stablecoins emerged to hold stable value.

She explains that cryptocurrency value is set only by supply and demand on the blockchain, which makes it quite volatile. That volatility is the reason stablecoins were designed to hold a relatively stable value, backed by reserve assets, so they can work as a medium of exchange and store of value.

“But its value is driven simply by supply and demand on the blockchain, which means it can be quite volatile in terms of where that value goes to.”at 4:04