How Banks Went From Avoiding Crypto to Building Onchain

On today's Talking Tokenization, Jacquelyn sits down with Andrew McCormick, Head of Institutional and Market Development at Chainlink Labs, to explore how banks, retail brokers and traditional financial institutions are moving deeper into tokenization and why simply putting assets onchain is no longer enough. Andrew explains why institutional conversations have shifted from “what is a blockchain?” to “how can we plug in?” as well as why large Wall Street banks are increasingly exploring DeFi, and how retail brokers that aren't offering tokenized assets by 2030 could be left behind. They also discuss why tokenized equities could become a breakout category, how programmable collateral can make tokenized assets more useful, and how Chainlink is expanding beyond its origins as an oracle network to support data, interoperability, privacy, compliance and financial infrastructure. Plus, Andrew breaks down why crypto price matters less in institutional conversations today, what DTCC's move into tokenized securities could mean for TradFi-DeFi convergence, and why collateral may be one of the biggest unlocks for the next phase of onchain finance.

Timestamps: 01:56 How Andrew defines tokenization 02:32 How the meaning of tokenization has changed 03:06 What “institutional” means at Chainlink 04:11 How institutional adoption changed in 2026 05:48 How banks are changing their view of digital assets 07:19 Chainlink's evolution beyond oracles 08:37 How Chainlink positions itself with financial institutions 09:19 Institutional demand behind the scenes 10:30 How long institutional partnerships take 11:59 Which financial firms are moving fastest? 13:06 Will every retail broker offer tokenized assets? 13:32 How early is tokenization today? 14:13 Could public equities move fully onchain? 15:07 Could stocks eventually function like cash? 15:39 Rebuilding financial workflows with blockchain 17:15 Why institutions may have no choice but to follow 18:32 Which tokenized asset category breaks out next? 19:41 Why retail matters as much as institutions 22:26 Why Wall Street is increasingly interested in DeFi 24:09 What's driving institutions toward DeFi 24:54 Why putting assets onchain isn't enough 25:54 What Chainlink's institutional partnerships reveal 27:43 Do institutions trust crypto more now? 28:48 Why crypto prices matter less to institutions 29:37 How TradFi and DeFi could converge 30:07 What DTCC tokenization could unlock 31:35 Chainlink as financial infrastructure 32:31 The next catalyst for tokenization 33:29 From crypto skeptic to blockchain believer 35:23 Why collateral could be the next major unlock 36:13 Andrew's advice

New episodes every week  https://open.spotify.com/show/0LOgWxIQ0NnNUD5eXsSuoZ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-tokens/id1743669141

Follow us  Jacquelyn on X: /jacqmelinek  Talking Tokens on X: /_talkingtokens  Talking Tokens on Instagram: /_talkingtokens

Follow Andrew McCormick https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-mccormick-70662b88

This episode is sponsored by Securitize, the proven leader in tokenized funds, equities, and private markets. Discover more at securitize.io

Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only. Views shared are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have financial interests in discussed content.