Plans quietly explore tokenization and custody as a low‑volatility way into digital assets
Canada’s largest pension plans are inching back toward digital assets — not to punt on Bitcoin, but to test whether blockchain can quietly make their portfolios cheaper, faster, and safer to run.
Money.ca reported that when Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) wrote down its multimillion‑dollar FTX stake in 2022, most pension executives took the hint and stayed away from crypto.
Three years later, the question is no longer “should we touch this?” but “can we use this safely?”
Global digital asset markets have grown into a US$3.3tn ecosystem with hundreds of millions of users, and large institutions are now building custody, compliance, and tokenized capital markets that look like traditional finance, not retail trading.
Head of Research at Bitcoin Suisse, Dominic Weibel, wrote that “digital assets are entering the institutional era.”
In that era, the focus is on rails: settlement systems, recordkeeping, and tokenized versions of existing assets such as real estate, private credit, and bonds, not meme coins.
Money.ca reported the Crypto Banking Report 2025, describes how blockchain rails now support tokenized real estate, private credit, and bond issuances for institutional investors.
It cites the Bullish exchange’s 2025 IPO, which settled US$1.15bn in stablecoins, as the first major public offering to use blockchain settlement at scale.
Canadian funds are moving cautiously and mostly at the infrastructure layer.
CDPQ, which lost roughly $200m in FTX, has committed to backing fintechs that build custody and compliance tools instead of unregulated exchanges.
That approach reflects a wider view that the durable opportunity is in blockchain infrastructure, not in volatile tokens.
Pension executives across Canada are commissioning internal studies on whether blockchain can reduce frictions in settlement, verification, and recordkeeping.
Money.ca said that several are tracking European and Middle Eastern sovereign funds that use tokenized assets to cut transaction costs.
For a system built on diversification, governance, and risk control, this is a shift from blanket avoidance to controlled experimentation.
Mike Foy, CFO of AMINA Bank, sums up the mood in Crypto Banking 2025: “It’s not about chasing a trend. It’s about ensuring that wealth strategies evolve with the infrastructure powering tomorrow’s financial systems.”
The current interest is driven by portfolio mechanics rather than hype.
Correlations between digital assets and equities have moved around over the past decade.
During the 2022/2023 downturn, crypto traded almost in step with tech stocks.
More recently, as institutional interest has grown and decentralized finance (DeFi) has stabilized, correlations have weakened, opening room for potential diversification.
In a Henley & Partner’s report, Mike Foy describes a US$2tn “bot economy” of algorithmic agents managing digital assets autonomously. That liquidity and automation may be making digital markets more efficient and less tied to a single sector.
The Bank of Canada continues to monitor digital assets for financial‑stability risks, but its researchers note that tokenization could “improve liquidity, transparency, and efficiency in private markets” — all core concerns for pension investors in illiquid asset classes.
According to Money.ca, no pension chief investment officer will take material exposure without a regulatory framework.
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) has begun setting guidance for federally regulated institutions on crypto exposure and custody.
The rules are conservative, but they replace a near‑vacuum.
The Digital Offshore Report 2025 points out that Switzerland, the UAE, and the EU have already introduced “crypto‑friendly legislation that prizes clarity over secrecy.”
Canada has been more cautious, but that stance could yield more credible, enforceable rules.
Dominic Volek, group head of private clients at Henley & Partners, calls this “a shift from opacity to transparency — from secrecy jurisdictions to compliant digital hubs.”
That trajectory fits the risk culture of Canada’s largest funds, which manage over $2.4tn and want transparency and institutional‑grade custody before moving.
For most Canadian pension plans, direct crypto holdings remain a non‑starter.
Tokenization is the more likely on‑ramp.
Tokenization converts real‑world assets such as bonds or real estate into blockchain‑based tokens.
In Crypto Banking 2025, Henley’s analysts describe tokenized private credit and real estate as “the new rails of wealth,” offering faster settlement, fractional ownership, and real‑time tracking.
For funds facing low yields, slow valuations, and operational bottlenecks in private markets, tokenization promises efficiency gains without the same level of price volatility as trading crypto outright.
Canada’s pension plans invest over generations, which makes it hard to ignore structural changes.
In The AI Crypto Boom, Niklas Schmidt writes: “We are witnessing a new economic paradigm where digital actors can own assets, make decisions, and create value independently.”
If value can move and be managed entirely on‑chain, asset managers will have to adapt to markets that operate there as a matter of course.
Money.ca said Canada’s pension giants are unlikely to lead a charge into crypto, and their caution will continue to protect retirees’ savings.
But as regulation solidifies and tokenization matures, those same conservative instincts may position them as credible first movers into secure, transparent blockchain infrastructure.
Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ / La Caisse) invested in FTX. La Caisse says it did not invest in FTX. The article has been updated to reflect this.
