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Goldman Sachs makes Treasury fund available to crypto firms through Lynq

Goldman Sachs makes Treasury fund available to crypto firms through Lynq

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Goldman Sachs is opening its roughly $100 billion FTIXX Treasury fund to institutional crypto firms through a new distribution deal with settlement network Lynq, without wrapping the fund in a token. The move gives digital-asset trading firms a regulated place to park idle cash between trades and earn yield, deepening the links between Wall Street’s money-market infrastructure and crypto’s institutional plumbing.

  • FTIXX becomes the first outside fund offered on Lynq, which previously carried only one investment product.
  • Trades in the fund will be handled by SEC-registered broker-dealer tZERO Securities.
  • Lynq’s network already counts more than 30 institutional digital-asset firms and over $89 million in assets.
  • $100B approximate size of Goldman’s FTIXX Treasury fund now on Lynq
  • 30+ institutional digital-asset firms already onboarded to Lynq’s network
  • $89M total assets currently held across Lynq’s settlement platform
  • 2nd investment product on Lynq, after just one previously available

Goldman Sachs is putting one of its largest Treasury funds within reach of crypto firms without building a blockchain-native version of it, according to reporting by CoinDesk. The bank’s roughly $100 billion FTIXX fund will be distributed through Lynq, a settlement network built for digital-asset companies, with trades executed by tZERO Securities. It is the first outside fund added to Lynq, which had offered only a single investment product before this integration.

FTIXX skips tokenization unlike BlackRock’s BUIDL and Franklin Templeton’s BENJI

Goldman’s approach diverges from the path other asset managers have taken to reach crypto markets. BlackRock built BUIDL as a tokenized fund from the ground up, and Franklin Templeton offers tokenized shares of its money-market fund through BENJI. FTIXX remains an unmodified, traditional Treasury fund, with Lynq simply serving as a new access point for firms that already move money on the network.

Goldman does not need to build a new blockchain product to reach digital-asset firms. Lynq instead routes an established Wall Street fund into the settlement workflow those firms already use.

Lynq CEO Jerald David told CoinDesk TV the integration reflects a broader shift in how traditional and crypto-native firms interact.

“There’s a convergence now that you’re seeing between traditional market participants and digital asset market participants as well.”

Jerald David, CEO, Lynq

Lynq’s clients wanted a treasury option with a different yield profile

Lynq’s institutional client base, which includes B2C2, Wintermute, Galaxy, FalconX, Crypto.com and Fireblocks, routinely moves large sums between trades. David said those firms had been asking for a place to hold cash in the interim rather than letting it sit idle, earning yield until it is needed elsewhere.

“We needed to demonstrate that there was client demand,” David said. He added that clients wanted “a treasury asset on the platform that may have had a different yield profile than the other instrument that’s on there right now.”

Adding FTIXX to the platform required technical work on Lynq’s side. The company modified its infrastructure, restricted the offering to U.S. clients, and integrated with Mosaic, according to David. Customers must also establish a relationship with tZERO Securities and complete standard onboarding and eligibility checks before accessing the fund. Lynq itself runs on a private, permissioned Avalanche layer-1 blockchain, and David described the platform as now “multi-asset capable” with FTIXX as its second available product.

Lynq’s network has 30-plus firms and $89 million on the platform so far

Lynq has onboarded more than 30 institutional digital-asset firms and holds over $89 million in assets, the company said. Those figures are modest next to FTIXX’s roughly $100 billion size, underscoring that this is an early-stage distribution channel rather than a large-scale reallocation of Treasury assets into crypto infrastructure.

David called FTIXX “Goldman Sachs’s flagship treasury fund” and said it is “the second asset now available for institutional clients” on Lynq.

The BlockWest read. The real story here is not tokenization, it is distribution. Goldman is testing whether crypto-native trading desks will route idle cash into a conventional fund if the settlement rails feel native to them, rather than waiting for a tokenized wrapper. If FTIXX’s balance on Lynq grows past the network’s current $89 million base, expect BlackRock and Franklin Templeton’s tokenized-fund strategy to face direct competition from this untokenized, broker-dealer-mediated model.

Lynq has not disclosed how much of FTIXX’s roughly $100 billion has moved onto the platform since the integration went live, leaving open how quickly institutional crypto firms will actually shift cash into the fund. David has signaled Lynq intends to keep expanding beyond its current two products, making the network’s next asset addition and its client growth beyond 30 firms the figures to watch.

S&P Global acquires OpenZeppelin smart contract auditor

S&P Global acquires OpenZeppelin smart contract auditor

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S&P Global’s acquisition of OpenZeppelin signals a major institutional pivot toward blockchain infrastructure, as the rating agency bets on the security and standardization that underpin trillions in tokenized assets. The deal reflects accelerating adoption of on-chain finance by traditional institutions and regulators moving to enable secondary trading of tokenized securities.

  • OpenZeppelin’s open-source library has facilitated more than $37 trillion in cumulative transferred value across DeFy and traditional finance applications.
  • The firm has completed over 900 security engagements, including a 2021 audit that prevented $15 billion in Convex Finance losses.
  • OpenZeppelin will operate as a standalone unit within S&P Global under CEO Demian Brener, with financial terms undisclosed.
  • $37T Cumulative value transferred via OpenZeppelin Contracts since the library’s creation
  • 900+ Security audits and assessments completed by OpenZeppelin to date
  • $15B Convex Finance deposits protected by OpenZeppelin’s late-2021 vulnerability discovery
  • 2015 Year OpenZeppelin was founded as a blockchain security specialist

According to a press release from S&P Global, the rating and data agency has agreed to purchase OpenZeppelin, the smart contract auditor whose free code library underpins the infrastructure for major stablecoins, tokenized funds, and decentralized finance platforms. CryptoPotato reported the deal, which positions the traditionally finance-focused conglomerate deeper into on-chain asset management as institutional capital accelerates its migration to blockchain networks.

OpenZeppelin’s Library Powers Trillions in On-Chain Value

Founded in 2015, OpenZeppelin has become the de facto standard for secure smart contract development across both decentralized and institutional finance. The firm’s open-source Contracts library, which provides audited token and contract templates, sits beneath the vast majority of the world’s largest stablecoins and tokenized investment funds. Over its operational history, the library has facilitated more than $37 trillion in cumulative value transferred through contracts built on its codebase.

The firm’s security practice extends beyond its freely available library to paid advisory engagements with protocols and institutions seeking custom risk assessments. In a 2021 audit of Convex Finance, an OpenZeppelin team uncovered a critical vulnerability that would have exposed $15 billion in user deposits to loss. That engagement exemplifies the firm’s role as a trusted gatekeeper in an ecosystem where code flaws can result in catastrophic financial damage.

S&P Global Integrates Blockchain Expertise Into its Risk Assessment Division

OpenZeppelin will continue operating under its own name as a standalone unit within S&P Global, with existing CEO Demian Brener maintaining leadership and reporting to Yann Le Pallec, President of S&P Global Ratings. S&P Global disclosed no financial terms and stated the acquisition would not materially impact its financial results, suggesting a relatively modest valuation by conglomerate standards.

The move extends S&P Global’s existing cryptocurrency capabilities, which include a suite of digital asset benchmarks launched in 2021 through S&P Dow Jones Indices. That arm publishes indexes tracking more than 240 cryptocurrencies alongside dedicated Bitcoin and Ethereum gauges, with pricing data supplied by Lukka.

Our digital assets strategy centers on bringing trusted data, benchmarks and transparent risk assessment to markets as they move onchain.

Yann Le Pallec, President of S&P Global Ratings

Le Pallec added that OpenZeppelin will strengthen the company’s capacity to assess smart contract and on-chain technology risks for both traditional institutions and DeFi-native firms entering the tokenized asset space.

Tokenization Regulatory Momentum Accelerates on Acquisition Day

The timing of the deal underscores broader institutional momentum toward on-chain finance. On the same day S&P Global announced the acquisition, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission opened the door to secondary trading of tokenized U.S. stocks through a temporary innovation exemption. The SEC’s framework requires that smart contracts involved in such trading be publicly auditable and deployed on public, permissionless blockchains, standards that align directly with OpenZeppelin’s existing work.

The regulatory alignment suggests S&P Global is positioning itself ahead of an anticipated wave of institutional tokenization activity.

The BlockWest read. We see this as a validation of OpenZeppelin’s market position rather than a watershed moment for crypto adoption. The deal allows S&P Global to wrap institutional credibility around a firm already powering critical infrastructure, but the undisclosed valuation and non-material financial impact suggest S&P views this as a strategic option on tokenization upside rather than a transformative acquisition. The real question is whether the Ratings division’s involvement accelerates OpenZeppelin’s institutional penetration or waters down its independence.

Watch for OpenZeppelin’s next client wins among traditional financial institutions now backed by S&P Global’s distribution and credibility, particularly as the SEC’s tokenization exemption moves from temporary status toward permanent rules. Demian Brener’s commitment to maintain OpenZeppelin’s independent brand and standards will be tested when S&P Global’s institutional clients demand faster, less conservative audit timelines in pursuit of competitive advantage in tokenized markets.

Arch Lending Expands Collateral Options to Include PAX Gold and Tether Gold for Digital Asset-Backed Loans

Arch Lending Expands Collateral Options to Include PAX Gold and Tether Gold for Digital Asset-Backed Loans

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Tokenized gold collateral has already demonstrated significant demand in decentralized lending protocols, and institutional lenders are now moving to capture this market with regulated alternatives. Arch Lending’s entry signals a shift toward mainstream infrastructure for precious-metals-backed borrowing, potentially opening credit access to wealth managers and family offices previously excluded from crypto lending.

  • $90.7B Tokenized gold spot trading volume in first quarter 2026
  • $84.64B Tokenized gold spot trading volume for entire year 2025
  • 75% Maximum starting loan-to-value ratio for gold collateral
  • $250K Minimum loan size to access Arch Lending’s gold facility

Arch Lending, operated by ChainFi, Inc., has begun accepting PAX Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUT) as loan collateral, marking the first time an institutional-grade lender has offered credit against tokenized gold through a regulated, custodial structure. Borrowers can access fixed 12-month terms with funding in dollars or USDC, with collateral held by Anchorage Digital, a federally chartered bank maintaining $100 million of insurance coverage through Lloyd’s of London.

The move reflects a broader maturation within the digital assets industry, where infrastructure providers are building bridges between traditional finance and blockchain-based systems. Tokenized commodities represent one of the fastest-growing segments within this convergence, offering the settlement speed and divisibility of blockchain technology while maintaining the intrinsic value backing of physical assets.

Aave Borrowers Already Accessing Tokenized Gold Credit

The appetite for credit against tokenized gold is not speculative. On January 29, 2026, Aave governance data showed $24.99 million in outstanding debt against a $25 million isolated debt ceiling for Tether Gold, representing near-total utilization of available capacity. That activity occurred on a decentralized DeFi protocol at variable rates without fiat funding or a regulated custodian, indicating organic demand from the broader market.

Arch Lending positions itself as the first institutional alternative, offering the same underlying transaction through a regulated framework. Where Aave borrowers operated in a decentralized environment with variable pricing, Arch Lending provides fixed terms, dollar-denominated funding, and custodial oversight by a federally chartered bank, structuring the product for traditional institutional participants.

This dual-track ecosystem, where both decentralized and regulated platforms serve the same underlying asset class, has become characteristic of maturing crypto markets. Bitcoin and Ethereum lending saw similar progression, with decentralized protocols establishing initial product-market fit before institutional platforms codified standardized terms and regulatory compliance.

Gold Tokenization Volume Exceeded 2025 Annual Total in First Quarter Alone

The broader tokenized gold market has accelerated sharply. Spot trading volume across all tokenized gold instruments totaled $90.7 billion in the first quarter of 2026, already exceeding the $84.64 billion recorded across the entire year of 2025. This growth follows renewed investor interest in precious metals as a store of value amid macroeconomic volatility.

PAXG, issued by Paxos Trust Company, represents one fine troy ounce of gold from an LBMA-accredited London Good Delivery bar held in Brink’s vaults. XAUT, issued by TG Commodities Limited, represents one fine troy ounce from a London Good Delivery bar held in Swiss custody. Together, these two tokens account for the overwhelming majority of tokenized gold trading activity.

Tokenized gold appeals to investors seeking physical metal exposure without storage, insurance, or logistics costs associated with holding bars and coins. The blockchain-native settlement process eliminates multi-day clearing periods characteristic of traditional gold markets, enabling near-instantaneous transfers and cross-border transactions.

Arch Lending Targets Wealth Managers Previously Outside Crypto Lending

The platform is targeting borrowers who have historically had no access to crypto lending infrastructure: gold investors, wealth advisors, commodities traders, family offices, and corporate treasuries with existing precious-metals allocations. Arch Lending’s entry into this segment reflects a recognition that traditional gold financing processes have created friction for these investors.

Conventional precious-metals lending typically requires physical delivery to vaults, involves lengthy underwriting processes, and carries structural complexity that makes it economical only for large institutional positions. Tokenization eliminates these friction points, allowing family offices and mid-market investors to access credit against gold holdings through a modern digital interface.

We’re seeing real demand from advisors and family offices with a gold sleeve who have never borrowed against it, because the process was slow and usually ended in a sale. Tokenization fixed the plumbing. Credit is the part that makes it worth doing.

Himanshu Sahay, Co-Founder and CTO of Arch Lending

Loans start at $250,000 and generally carry 12-month terms, with rates beginning at 9.25% APR for loan sizes between $250,000 and $750,000, declining to 7.25% APR above $5 million.

The 85% margin-call threshold and 90% liquidation threshold apply across all loans, with partial-only liquidation and a 24-hour cure window available to borrowers.

Arch Lending’s pricing reflects both the lower volatility of gold compared to cryptocurrency assets and the institutional-grade operational overhead required for regulated custody and lending operations. The declining rate structure incentivizes larger loan sizes, positioning the platform for substantial borrower relationships rather than retail participation.

PAXG and XAUT now join Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP within Arch Lending’s collateral set, completing its expansion from a Bitcoin-focused platform into a multi-asset credit ecosystem built around premier stores of value. The question remains whether other institutional lenders will follow Arch’s move into tokenized commodities lending, or whether regulatory barriers and custodial constraints will limit competition in this emerging market segment.

Ripple (XRP) Announces Major Banking and Institutional Deal

Ripple (XRP) Announces Major Banking and Institutional Deal

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Ripple’s custody infrastructure and SettleMint’s asset management platform are now integrated into a single offering for regulated financial institutions seeking to custody, issue and manage tokenized assets. The partnership addresses institutional demand for consolidated solutions in Asia and signals Ripple’s ongoing buildout of enterprise blockchain infrastructure across payments, custody and treasury services.

  • Ripple Custody integrates with SettleMint’s Digital Asset Lifecycle Platform to provide custody, issuance and governance in one system
  • Boston Consulting Group projects tokenized real-world assets could reach $88 trillion by 2035, with banks risking 30% profit declines if unprepared
  • Partnership launched in Asia and targets banks, market infrastructure operators and sovereign entities across multiple geographies
  • $88T Projected tokenized real-world assets by 2035 versus current levels
  • 30% Potential profit decline for banks failing to adapt to digital assets
  • $4B Ripple’s cumulative M&A and corporate venture spending on crypto infrastructure
  • <5 sec Settlement time for tokenized US Treasuries on XRP Ledger in JPMorgan pilot

Ripple Labs and SettleMint announced the strategic partnership in Singapore, immediately launching the integrated offering in Asia with plans to expand to other markets as institutional interest grows. The collaboration combines Ripple Custody with SettleMint’s Digital Asset Lifecycle Platform (DALP), creating a unified system that handles asset custody, issuance, compliance, settlement and servicing across the complete lifecycle of tokenized assets. The solution targets regulated financial institutions, market infrastructure operators and sovereign entities seeking to consolidate what have traditionally been separate vendor relationships.

Single Platform Consolidates Fragmented Institutional Workflows

Financial institutions managing digital assets currently piece together multiple vendors for custody, issuance and governance functions, creating operational complexity and integration overhead. The partnership addresses this friction by offering a single connected foundation where institutions can handle all functions without switching between platforms or managing separate compliance and settlement layers.

The fragmentation of institutional asset management workflows has historically required banks and operators to maintain relationships with specialized vendors, each focused on a single component of the tokenization lifecycle. This distributed approach introduces operational risk, increases compliance overhead and creates reconciliation challenges across systems that may not communicate seamlessly with one another.

“Financial institutions across Asia Pacific are putting digital assets to work. They are asking how to do more without stitching together separate solutions for custody, issuance and governance,” said Fiona Murray, Managing Director, Asia Pacific at Ripple. The consolidated approach simplifies infrastructure decisions for institutions that currently lack the engineering resources to integrate disparate platforms or the regulatory certainty to commit to multiple vendors simultaneously.

Ripple’s Custody Stack Built Through Strategic Acquisitions

Ripple has constructed its custody infrastructure over time through a series of partnerships and acquisitions, allocating approximately $4 billion in cumulative M&A and corporate venture capital to crypto infrastructure. The company has integrated with Securosys and Figment for custody and infrastructure support, added compliance analytics capabilities through Chainalysis, and acquired Palisade, a wallet infrastructure provider that brought MPC-based key sharding and multi-chain support to Ripple’s offerings.

This acquisition strategy reflects Ripple’s long-term bet that enterprise blockchain infrastructure will eventually underpin institutional finance. Rather than building all capabilities organically, the company has identified specific gaps in its platform and acquired targeted technologies to fill them. Each acquisition has added layers of functionality that individual institutions would otherwise need to source independently.

SettleMint, headquartered in Leuven, Belgium with offices in the UAE, Singapore and Japan, contributes its composable DALP platform, which already operates in production and pre-production deployments across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific serving banks, market operators and government entities. The integration of both companies’ capabilities creates an end-to-end solution for institutions managing tokenized assets at scale. SettleMint’s existing customer base and operational deployments provide the partnership with immediate credibility and use case validation.

Real-World Asset Tokenization Market Projections Drive Institutional Demand

Boston Consulting Group’s May 2026 report projects that tokenized real-world assets could reach $88 trillion by 2035, representing a fundamental restructuring of financial infrastructure. The firm estimates that banks failing to adapt their operations to digital assets could see profits decline by as much as 30% over the same period, creating urgency for institutions to deploy scalable tokenization and custody systems.

The scale of this projected transformation extends beyond payments into treasury management, securities settlement and asset servicing. Real-world asset tokenization encompasses everything from government bonds and corporate debt to real estate and supply chain finance instruments. Each asset class presents distinct custody and compliance requirements that existing infrastructure was never designed to accommodate at the speeds and scales that blockchain networks enable.

Ripple’s existing pilot work in the region demonstrates near-term demand for these capabilities. In March, Ripple piloted RLUSD, its stablecoin, through Singapore’s central bank sandbox alongside supply chain finance firm Unloq, and the XRP Ledger recently settled tokenized US Treasuries in under five seconds during a cross-border pilot involving JPMorgan, Mastercard and Ondo Finance. Both RLUSD and XRP are named as core assets underpinning the new partnership’s offerings.

These pilots signal that central banks, systemically important financial institutions and major payment networks are treating tokenized asset infrastructure as a near-term operational priority rather than a long-term research initiative. The convergence of central bank interest, institutional capital deployment and regulatory clarification is compressing timelines for mainstream adoption.

The partnership signals Ripple’s shift from primarily facilitating cross-border payments to building comprehensive infrastructure for on-chain capital markets. SettleMint CEO Adam Popat stated that global capital markets are moving fully on-chain, requiring custody and lifecycle management to operate as integrated systems rather than separate components. The firms have not announced specific enterprise customers for the integrated platform or a timeline for rollout beyond Asia, making market adoption rates and competitive positioning against other custody and settlement providers the key variables to monitor. Success will depend on whether regulated institutions choose to consolidate around this integrated platform or continue assembling point solutions from multiple vendors as they have historically done.

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