Federated Hermes, one of the largest money market managers in the business, plans to issue its first fund shares that live directly onchain.
For a firm with approximately $912 billion in total assets under management, that is a meaningful move.
The plans are still developmental. Fully onchain share classes depend on how digital transfer agency models evolve, so this is a roadmap, not a launch date carved in stone.
What Federated Hermes is building
The core of the strategy is money market funds. As of June 30, 2026, Federated Hermes managed $676.9 billion in money market assets.
An onchain share class would mean the share itself is recorded and transferred on a blockchain, rather than sitting in a traditional ledger with a digital twin floating alongside it.
That is where transfer agents come in. These are the record keepers that track who owns which fund shares, and their models need to adapt before shares can fully migrate onchain.
Leading the effort is Kevin Barr, who was appointed in May 2026 as Director of Digital Assets Product and Platform Strategy.
A string of partnerships and a new fund
In October 2025, Federated Hermes partnered with UK-based Archax. That arrangement gave investors tokenized access to three UCITS money market funds through beneficial ownership tokens across multiple blockchains, including Ethereum and Solana.
On June 9, 2026, the firm launched its Digital Treasury Fund under the ticker OFFXX. The fund is aligned with the GENIUS Act and was set up with the prospect of tokenized share classes being added as regulatory frameworks mature.
On September 1, 2026, Federated Hermes announced a strategic partnership with Conduit Digital Holdings to build a regulated tokenized fund distribution system in the Asia-Pacific region. Under that structure, institutional and wholesale investors would gain exposure to a Conduit-managed fund that invests in Federated Hermes’ Short-Term U.S. Prime Fund, using tokenization as the delivery mechanism.
What this means for investors and the tokenization market
For institutional investors, tokenized share classes could let them hold money market exposure in the same digital environment where they already manage other onchain assets.
The fully onchain share class depends on digital transfer agency models that are still evolving, and regulatory frameworks are still maturing. Any delay on either front could stretch the timeline.
Beneficial ownership tokens and fund-of-fund arrangements like the Conduit deal add layers, each with its own counterparty and operational considerations. A true onchain share class would strip some of those away.
OFFXX was explicitly set up for the possibility of tokenized share classes, making it the most likely testing ground. The APAC distribution system with Conduit, once live, will also indicate whether tokenized access to US money market products has genuine demand abroad.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Kaye Quema. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.