BlackRock bets on tokenization, but IMF warns of uncontrollable ‘atomic’ domino effect
BlackRock champions tokenization as the next major market upgrade, while the IMF cautions it risks amplifying financial shocks via rapid, uncontrollable domino effects.Summary
The world's largest asset manager, BlackRock, views tokenization as the most significant market upgrade since the early internet, framing it as an infrastructure play to compress settlement cycles and expand market access, similar to the advent of SWIFT. Conversely, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warns that this untested architecture could amplify financial shocks at machine speed, leading to flash crashes and systemic cascades due to instantaneous settlement and smart contract composability. This divide stems from their differing mandates: BlackRock focuses on building efficient investment products, while the IMF prioritizes stabilizing the global system by identifying high-speed feedback loop risks. While BlackRock points to growing real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, projected by some to reach $30 trillion by 2034, the IMF is concerned about 'atomic settlement' requiring instant liquidity funding, which could evaporate during stress. Furthermore, complex stacks of tokenized instruments may create recursive dependencies that unwind faster than risk engines can handle, turning local failures into systemic crises before regulators can intervene.
(Source：CryptoSlate)