China Merchants Bank International (CMBI) has taken a major step into blockchain finance by tokenising a $3.8 billion fund on BNB Chain, one of the world’s most active smart contract platforms. The move marks a significant milestone for Hong Kong’s digital asset market, signalling China’s growing openness to blockchain-driven financial innovation.
According to Cointelegraph, the bank’s asset management arm has partnered with BNB Chain to issue tokenised fund shares, making it one of the largest blockchain integrations by a traditional financial institution in Asia. The project aligns with Hong Kong’s recent efforts to create a crypto-friendly regulatory environment, balancing innovation with investor protection.
The tokenised fund will allow institutional and retail investors to access traditionally illiquid assets through blockchain infrastructure, ensuring greater transparency, traceability, and efficiency. With this development, CMBI joins a growing list of legacy financial players embracing blockchain to streamline fund management and settlement processes.
BNB Chain, developed by Binance, has positioned itself as a preferred choice for large-scale tokenisation projects due to its low transaction fees, fast settlement times, and EVM compatibility, which simplifies integration for developers and institutions. The collaboration underscores the chain’s ongoing effort to attract enterprise-grade partners while expanding beyond DeFi and NFTs into real-world assets (RWAs).
Also, Hong Kong’s partnership represents another vote of confidence in its evolving role as Asia’s digital asset hub. Since 2023, the region has been actively introducing frameworks for stablecoins, virtual asset service providers (VASPs), and tokenised securities — aiming to establish itself as a bridge between traditional finance and Web3 innovation.
By leveraging BNB Chain’s infrastructure, China Merchants Bank is not only enhancing investor accessibility but also demonstrating how tokenisation can modernise traditional asset management. As financial institutions continue to explore blockchain solutions, this initiative could inspire similar moves across Asia’s banking sector.
The successful rollout of the $3.8 billion tokenised fund could become a benchmark for how traditional banking and decentralised networks collaborate to redefine the global finance landscape.
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