More than 15 of the world's largest banks are actively implementing solutions for tokenized finance on private blockchains. In my firm belief, it is this shift, rather than the actions of individual corporate giants like Strategy, that poses the most significant long-term threat to Bitcoin (BTC).
Analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou highlight a key point: if settlements and assets massively migrate to permissioned networks, public blockchains will inevitably face a decline in activity, liquidity, and capital inflow. This is not just a hypothesis — it is an already observable trend.
Wall Street Moves to Private Rails
JPMorgan's Kinexys platform (formerly Onyx) has processed over $3 trillion since launch and conducts daily operations exceeding $7 billion. Notably, the bank's CEO Jamie Dimon continues to criticize Bitcoin while simultaneously developing his own blockchain infrastructure.
The majority of these operations occur in shared permissioned networks. For example, in the Canton Network, depository DTCC is tokenizing U.S. government bonds with a project completion target of 2026. HSBC has already tested tokenized deposits on the same platform, and Goldman Sachs is settling tokenized bonds.
The fee figures are telling: in the 30 days leading up to the end of June, Canton Network collected approximately $60 million in fees, while Ethereum collected only $11 million over the same period. This is a clear demonstration of where institutional capital is moving.
More than 15 of the largest banks are involved in the common tokenized deposit network from The Clearing House. The platform is planned for launch by 2027 — part of a large-scale initiative to create institutional settlements in tokens.
The Danger for Bitcoin
In a report dated July 9, JPMorgan directly stated: the main threat to Bitcoin is the proliferation of blockchain, where institutions move to private networks. For financial organizations, governance, confidentiality, and legal predictability are critical — which is why they choose permissioned systems.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has also expressed similar caution, stating that public blockchains face issues with scalability and financial transparency, instead supporting unified ledgers based on regulated platforms.
The market is already feeling the impact: according to data from rwa.xyz, approximately $31 billion in tokenized real-world assets are placed on public blockchains, with roughly two-thirds of that amount on Ethereum. JPMorgan believes that as the market grows, the majority of issuance and settlements will move to closed platforms with permissioned access.
Meanwhile, analysts consider Strategy (the largest corporate investor in Bitcoin) only a secondary factor. The company controls about 4% of BTC supply, and its new sales policy adds short-term volatility to the market but does not pose a systemic risk.
There is also an opposing viewpoint: Bitcoin's value lies not in mass financial use, but in its scarcity and neutral status. However, I see that some analysts are already favoring stablecoins and tokenization over direct investments in BTC.
My professional opinion: asset tokenization in banks is not just a technological trend, but a fundamental shift in the architecture of global finance. If institutional capital becomes permanently entrenched in private blockchains, Bitcoin risks losing its main advantage — the role of "digital gold" for institutions — and may remain merely a niche asset for retail investors and hedge funds.