How T. Rowe Price Is Preparing for Tokenized Markets

In this episode of Crypto in America, Eleanor Terrett and Jacquelyn Melinek sit down with Blue Macellari, Head of Digital Assets at T. Rowe Price, to discuss how one of Wall Street’s major asset managers is approaching crypto, tokenization, and the future of financial markets.

Blue Macellari explains why tokenization has become a major focus for financial institutions, what it would actually take to move U.S. markets onchain, and why Wall Street still needs a clearer playbook before committing significant capital to new blockchain infrastructure. She also discusses growing board-level interest in tokenization and why she believes programmable assets and funds could automate significant parts of financial services.

The conversation also explores T. Rowe Price’s actively managed crypto ETF, the challenge of tokenized financial products developing offshore, why institutional adoption doesn’t necessarily depend on the Clarity Act, how AI and blockchain could work together, and what the collapse of FTX revealed about combining crypto trading and custody under one roof.

Timestamps 

00:00 Blue Macellari Joins Crypto in America

01:35 What Crypto in America Means to Blue Macellari

02:43 How T. Rowe Price Started Experimenting With Crypto

05:16 How Bitcoin Brought Macellari Into Crypto

08:10 Building T. Rowe Price’s Digital Asset Strategy

11:53 What FTX Taught Traditional Finance About Crypto

15:19 How T. Rowe Price Tests New Crypto Products

17:25 Building an Actively Managed Crypto ETF

19:30 Active vs. Passive Crypto ETFs

22:56 Why Tokenization Is Wall Street’s Next Big Focus

25:25 What It Takes to Move U.S. Markets Onchain

28:24 Does Wall Street Know How to Move Onchain?

30:38 Why Crypto Markets Are Already Global

32:29 Is the U.S. Winning the Digital Asset Race?

33:38 Why U.S. Tokenization Is Moving Offshore

35:39 Can the U.S. Bring Crypto Innovation Back Onshore?

38:11 Does Wall Street Need the Clarity Act?

40:45 Why Institutional Interest in Tokenization Is Growing

41:56 Could Tokenization Automate Wall Street?

44:00 How T. Rowe Price Is Using AI

46:01 What FTX Taught Crypto About Market Structure

46:10 Why Crypto Should Separate Custody and Trading

47:18 Who Protects Retail Crypto Investors?

47:21 What Blue Macellari Is Watching Next

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Please note that this podcast is for informational purposes only and any views shared by anyone on the show are opinions, not financial advice. The host or guests may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this episode.

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