Kevin O’Leary issues blunt warning on Wall Street's future
Some of Wall Street’s biggest firms are quietly moving parts of the financial system onto blockchain rails, turning tokenization from a crypto talking point into an institutional strategy.
From BlackRock’s tokenized Treasury fund to JPMorgan’s blockchain settlement infrastructure, major financial players are increasingly experimenting with round-the-clock transfers, faster settlement and onchain asset management.
But Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary says the biggest barrier is no longer technology, it’s regulation.
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Wall Street pushes deeper into tokenized finance
Large financial institutions have accelerated efforts in 2026 to bring traditional financial products onto blockchain-based infrastructure.
BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund, BUIDL, launched on Ethereum in partnership with Securitize and BNY Mellon, allowing qualified investors to access yield-bearing Treasury exposure with 24/7 transfers and onchain settlement.
BlackRock described tokenization as “a key focus” of its digital asset strategy when unveiling the fund in March 2024.
Tokenization refers to the process of converting real-world assets like stocks, bonds or funds into blockchain-based digital tokens that can trade and settle instantly.
Traditional banks are also expanding blockchain-based financial infrastructure behind the scenes.
On May 6, JPMorgan’s blockchain division Kinexys completed a near-real-time cross-border transfer tied to tokenized US Treasury assets alongside Mastercard, Ondo Finance and Ripple, according to MarketWatch.
Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange, Bullish, also recently agreed to acquire transfer agent Equiniti in a $4.2 billion deal aimed at combining tokenized trading infrastructure with shareholder recordkeeping systems handling over 20 million investors globally.
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The push is no longer limited to crypto exchanges and ETFs. Firms are increasingly targeting the core infrastructure behind capital markets, including issuance, settlement and shareholder servicing.
Together, the moves suggest tokenization is shifting from crypto experiment to institutional financial strategy.
Kevin O’Leary says regulation still blocks adoption
Despite the momentum, Kevin O’Leary warned that most institutions still refuse to fully embrace tokenized assets without clear regulatory frameworks.
Speaking at Consensus Miami 2026, the Shark Tank investor said compliance concerns continue to prevent large firms from allocating serious capital to blockchain-based financial products.
“Tokenization will never be adopted by institutional indexers, ever. Neither will bitcoin, which is still a fringe asset to the big guys,” O’Leary said.
He argued that institutions trust regulated market infrastructure like the New York Stock Exchange, but remain cautious around tokenized markets operating without comprehensive federal oversight.
O’Leary added that institutional crypto exposure has increasingly narrowed toward Bitcoin and Ethereum.
“97% of the entire value of the entire market is simply BTC and ether,” he said, adding that many smaller tokens have been “slaughtered.”
Rather than speculative crypto assets, O’Leary said the bigger opportunity lies in enterprise blockchain adoption.
“You show me the adoption onto the platform that becomes a moat,” he said.
According to O’Leary, Wall Street’s future interest in blockchain will depend less on token speculation and more on whether the technology can integrate into regulated financial systems at scale.
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This story was originally published by TheStreet on May 6, 2026, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.