RE: LeoThread 2026-01-19 16-31

Ethereum is the #1 choice for global financial institutions.
Over the last few months, adoption has accelerated. Here are 35 stories of how institutions are building on Ethereum.

1/ Kraken launched xStocks on Ethereum, issuing tokenized versions of popular U.S. stocks and ETFs as ERC-20 tokens. Eligible Kraken clients can now deposit and withdraw fully collateralized equities directly on Ethereum.

2/ Ondo Finance launched Ondo Global Markets on Ethereum with 100+ tokenized U.S. stocks & ETFs. 24/7 access to programmable equities, backed by real securities, is available alongside DeFi integrations for lending, trading, and more.

3/ China Asset Management (Hong Kong) rolled out a Select USD Money Market Fund on Ethereum, one of the first tokenized funds from a major Chinese asset manager, offering 24/7 settlement for short-term USD instruments.

4/ Fidelity introduced the FDIT tokenized money market fund on Ethereum, bringing onchain settlement speed to a traditional, stable instrument.

5/ Google announced the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), enabling AI agents to autonomously execute stablecoin payments on Ethereum, built with the Ethereum Foundation and major wallet and exchange partners to enable secure AI-driven transactions.

6/ UBS, PostFinance, Sygnum, and the Swiss Bankers Association piloted Deposit Tokens on Ethereum, demonstrating legally binding cross-bank settlement on public infrastructure and enabling programmable, instant cross-institution settlement.

7/ Santander’s digital bank launched ETH trading services in Germany, allowing customers to buy, sell, and custody ETH directly through bank accounts, signaling institutional confidence under MiCa.

8/ American Express launched Amex Passport, blockchain-based travel stamps minted as NFTs on an Ethereum L2, letting cardholders create onchain records of international travel and loyalty rewards.

9/ The first tokenized S&P 500 Index Fund licensed by the index provider, SPXA, was launched on an Ethereum L2.

10/ SWIFT and 30+ banks are designing a blockchain ledger to support tokenized assets and real-time, 24/7 cross-border payments alongside existing systems, starting with a prototype with enterprise partners to bridge traditional finance and onchain value.

11/ Societe Generale FORGE deployed EURCV & USDCV lending and trading on Ethereum DeFi protocols, providing institutional-grade collateral and liquidity to DeFi markets.

12/ Stripe expanded crypto support on Ethereum to include stablecoin-based subscriptions and recurring billing, enabling companies to accept USDC for automated renewals with lower-cost, near-instant settlement.

13/ Securitize and FGNexus tokenized the FGNX stock on Ethereum, representing the first NASDAQ-listed preferred equity issued fully onchain and illustrating programmable public-market assets.

14/ Ant Group launched a Layer 2 focused on institutional tokenization, building global settlement infrastructure for tokenized assets on Ethereum.

15/ The world’s first yen-pegged regulated stablecoin launched on Ethereum, offering compliant, programmable yen transactions backed 1:1 under Japan’s Payment Services Act.

16/ BNY Mellon and Securitize announced a tokenized AAA-rated CLO fund on Ethereum, moving institutional credit onchain to improve liquidity and transparency.

17/ Google integrated onchain prediction market data into search results, leveraging Ethereum-based data as a primary source of truth.

18/ A SuperApp for a growing Ethereum L2 released a unified platform for wallets, assets, and apps, simplifying onchain interactions and rewards for mainstream users.

19/ A major bank migrated its tokenized deposit product from a permissioned chain to an Ethereum L2 to support institutional payments, collateral, and margin settlement on public infrastructure.

20/ Mastercard announced plans to build on an Ethereum L2 to expand a Crypto Credential program to self-custody wallets, enabling human-readable aliases for crypto transfers in partnership with infrastructure providers.

21/ Europe’s largest asset manager launched a tokenized share class of its euro money market fund on Ethereum mainnet, bringing euro cash management onchain with 24/7 settlement and composability.

22/ A major consumer bank announced plans to launch a USD-pegged stablecoin on its Ethereum L2, positioning the company’s ecosystem infrastructure on Ethereum.

23/ An asset manager introduced the world’s first physically-backed ETP for staked Ether, offering regulated exposure to stETH and staking rewards for European investors.

24/ The CFTC announced a pilot allowing ETH, BTC, and USDC to be used as collateral in U.S. derivatives markets and issued guidance on tokenized assets as collateral, enabling deeper integration of digital assets into regulated markets.

25/ BlackRock filed for a staked ETH ETF, aiming to bring Ethereum’s native staking reward rate to traditional investors following a spot ETH ETF filing.

26/ The ADI Foundation launched an institutional Layer 2 mainnet as part of a zksync Elastic Network, backed by a major conglomerate, to host regulated stablecoins and scale onchain access across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.

27/ A leading bank launched MONY, its first tokenized money market fund on Ethereum mainnet, seeding the fund with $100M of capital to signal commitment to public chain tokenization.

28/ A major exchange announced an end-to-end institutional platform for tokenizing real-world assets on an Ethereum L2, combining issuance, custody, compliance, trading, and infrastructure to streamline bringing assets onchain.

29/ A retail trading platform added 500 tokenized assets on an Ethereum L2, bringing its total to nearly 2,000 tokenized assets and deepening integration with L2 ecosystems.

30/ BlackRock, Mastercard, and a global advisory firm partnered with the ADI Foundation to explore tokenized asset structures, regulatory frameworks, stablecoin settlement, and cross-border payment infrastructure on an institutional L2.

31/ A national U.S. retail bank became the first to issue a stablecoin on a public, permissionless blockchain, launching on Ethereum for internal faster, cheaper settlements.

32/ A regulated U.S. dollar stablecoin issued by a state-chartered digital asset bank launched on Ethereum and Polygon, marking another instance of U.S.-regulated banks issuing stablecoins on public blockchains.

33/ An asset manager distributed the first ETH staking rewards to ETF shareholders, a first for U.S. regulated products that delivered native network yield to investors.

34/ A major wealth manager filed for a Staked Ether ETF, expanding beyond spot exposure to capture Ethereum’s native staking yield for clients.

35/ The ADI Foundation partnered with a leading mobile money platform to bring 60M+ users onchain, integrating blockchain rails for instant cross-border payments and stablecoin transactions.
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Ethereum serves as the trusted global settlement layer for real-world adoption, used by institutions, governments, and enterprises worldwide