There is a strong push among Wall Street firms ramping up their efforts to tokenize assets on the blockchain.

Tokenization is when tangible and intangible assets are converted into digital tokens — everything from shares, and bonds to gold bullions, real estate as well as digital and physical art.

Earlier this year State Street Global Advisors showed an interest in tokenizing exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

At an ETF Stream event Matteo Andreetto, head of SPDR EMEA at State Street, said, “We will be looking at the tokenization of ETFs … and then the tokenization of private assets. That for me will be game-changing.”

The tokenization of asset classes "offers the prospect of driving efficiencies in capital markets, shortening value chains, and improving cost and access for investors," he said.

In September, U.S. bank Citigroup (NYSE:C) announced it had started piloting “Citi Token Services” for cash management and trade finance — a tokenization service for institutional clients using blockchain technology.

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