Fidelity Investments has taken a clear step toward embracing blockchain-based finance. The asset manager, overseeing over $5.9 trillion, has filed to register a tokenised version of its US Treasury money market fund on Ethereum.
The filing to the US securities regulator on March 21 outlines the introduction of an OnChain share class within the existing Fidelity Treasury Digital Fund. This marks Fidelity’s first attempt to combine traditional fund structure with blockchain-based transparency.
Fidelity Introduces Blockchain Recording for Money Market Shares
The OnChain share class will not change the structure or operation of the fund itself. The Fidelity Treasury Digital Fund, identified under the ticker FYHXX, is currently valued at around 80 million dollars and is primarily composed of short-term US Treasury bills and cash.
Source: SEC
These underlying assets will remain under traditional custody, and Fidelity will continue to maintain the official record of share ownership through its transfer agent.
However, in this new OnChain version, Fidelity will record a secondary version of the share transactions on the Ethereum blockchain. This blockchain-based recording is intended to give investors greater visibility over their holdings and offer a verifiable public record of share activity.
While this ledger will not serve as the official source of ownership, it will be reconciled with Fidelity’s internal records daily to ensure accuracy and alignment.
This initiative remains subject to regulatory approval but is expected to go live by May 30. If approved, the OnChain class will become one of the few examples of a traditional money market fund integrating blockchain infrastructure into its reporting process.
The approach reflects a cautious but purposeful step into the digital asset space. Fidelity is choosing to test blockchain’s advantages without compromising on regulation, investor protections or operational stability.
This move brings Fidelity in line with other major institutions that are exploring blockchain applications in capital markets. Asset managers such as BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have already launched tokenised products tied to real-world financial instruments.
BlackRock, for example, launched its USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund last year and has since accumulated over 1.4 billion dollars in tokenised assets.
Tokenisation Gains Ground Across Traditional Finance
Tokenisation has become one of the most active areas of experimentation among financial institutions.
It involves the creation of digital representations of traditional assets, such as bonds, funds or credit instruments, on public blockchains. These digital records are designed to improve efficiency in how financial products are managed, traded, and verified.
Source: rwa.xyz
According to data from rwa.xyz, the total market value of tokenised US Treasury instruments has now reached 4.77 billion dollars. Ethereum has taken the lead as the primary blockchain for these instruments, hosting more than 3.3 billion dollars in value.
In contrast, other networks such as Stellar account for significantly smaller portions of the market, with just under 470 million dollars recorded on the platform.
The popularity of Ethereum in this context reflects its position as the most established and widely adopted blockchain for enterprise and institutional use.
BlackRock’s Head of Crypto, Robbie Mitchnick, recently reinforced this point, stating that Ethereum remains the clear starting point for traditional firms seeking to explore tokenised finance.
In his words, Ethereum has become the default choice because of the value placed on decentralisation, network security, and credibility among clients and institutions.
Fidelity’s decision to begin its OnChain experiment on Ethereum mirrors these sentiments. It allows the firm to benefit from a widely understood and battle-tested platform, while also keeping its future options open.
In its filing, Fidelity indicated that it may consider deploying the OnChain class to other blockchain networks in the future.
This suggests that while Ethereum serves as the initial launchpad, Fidelity is maintaining a flexible outlook as the broader infrastructure landscape evolves.
For now, the OnChain class does not attempt to tokenise the Treasury assets themselves. It focuses solely on the digital recording of investor share transactions.
This careful separation allows Fidelity to evaluate the benefits of public blockchain infrastructure without introducing complexities around asset custody or compliance.
The fund will continue to operate as a traditional money market vehicle, focused on capital preservation and short-term liquidity.
What sets this initiative apart is the integration of new technology into existing regulatory structures.
By adopting a dual-recording model, Fidelity combines the assurance of conventional financial oversight with the added visibility of blockchain-based transparency.
The success of this model could serve as a reference point for other firms looking to adopt blockchain in a controlled and regulatory-friendly way.
Conclusion
Fidelity’s OnChain share class represents more than just a technical update. It reflects a broader shift in how leading financial institutions are starting to view blockchain.
Rather than treating it as a disruptive alternative, firms are now considering how it can quietly improve traditional systems.
By recording share transactions on Ethereum while keeping core operations unchanged, Fidelity is making a practical move toward digital asset infrastructure.
As other firms watch closely, this may signal the beginning of a more permanent place for blockchain in mainstream finance.