Mirae Asset has teamed up with Ondo Finance to put its $99 billion Global X ETF lineup on blockchain rails. The move, aimed at making the funds easier to trade and more widely accessible, could reshape how traditional ETFs are bought and sold — if regulators sign off.
A $99 Billion Bet on Blockchain
The partnership brings together one of Asia’s largest asset managers with a crypto-native firm focused on tokenizing real-world assets. Ondo Finance will work with Mirae Asset to issue digital tokens that represent shares of Global X ETFs, a suite covering everything from U.S. equities to thematic sectors. The combined assets under management in the lineup total roughly $99 billion.
Tokenization, in this context, means each ETF share gets a blockchain-based twin that can be transferred and settled almost instantly. The companies say the approach should improve liquidity by allowing trading outside traditional exchange hours and in smaller increments than standard share lots.
Why Tokenization Matters for ETFs
ETFs already trade on exchanges, but they’re still bound by market open hours and settlement delays. Putting them on a distributed ledger removes those frictions. Investors could buy or sell a tokenized ETF at any time, and the trade would settle in minutes rather than days.
For Mirae Asset, the move is a bet that institutions and retail clients alike want faster, cheaper access to its products. Ondo Finance brings the technical know-how to mint and manage those tokens, a business that has attracted other major asset managers in recent months.
The Global X lineup is a big piece of the puzzle. It includes popular funds like Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF and Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF. Tokenizing the entire suite would create one of the largest pools of tokenized securities by assets.
Regulatory Questions Loom
Tokenizing ETFs raises legal questions that regulators haven’t fully answered. In the U.S., the Securities and Exchange Commission has taken a cautious stance on digital assets, and it’s not clear whether tokenized ETFs would be treated as securities in the same way as traditional funds. Other jurisdictions, including Hong Kong and Singapore, have signaled more openness but haven’t issued formal guidance.
Mirae Asset and Ondo Finance will likely need to register the tokenized products in each market where they want to offer them. That process could take months or years, depending on how regulators view the underlying technology. For now, the companies haven’t disclosed a target launch date or which regulators they’ve approached.
The partnership is the latest sign that traditional finance is tiptoeing into blockchain, but the speed of adoption depends on how quickly rules catch up.
