New Northern Trust Unit Merges Crypto, TradFi Teams

$1.5 trillion asset manager’s new digital assets and financial markets division comes amid ongoing crypto sell-off

article-image

Northern Trust | Source: Shutterstock

share
  • Boundaries between traditional and digital markets “will only continue to blur over time,” says Justin Chapman, the new unit’s leader
  • Algorand executive calls the move by “a renowned financial institution” an important step for blockchain industry

Northern Trust has formed a digital assets and financial markets division, citing increased interest from clients in the development of digital markets.

The new group combines the existing teams responsible for digital asset markets and those focused on market access and insights across traditional securities — such as equities, fixed income, alternatives and private assets.

“Rather than create separate business lines, by aligning our focus on digital and traditional markets together, we can continue to develop services and capabilities that truly reflect and enable our clients’ evolving investment strategies,” Pete Cherecwich, the firm’s president of asset servicing, said in a statement.

Justin Chapman, the company’s global head of market advocacy innovation and research, is set to lead the newly formed unit.

“Traditional and digital markets already co-exist,” Chapman said in a statement. “And the boundaries between the two will only continue to blur over time.” 

A Northern Trust spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.

Founded in Chicago in 1889, Northern Trust offers wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking to corporations, institutions, affluent families and individuals. In addition to its $1.5 trillion in assets under management, as of March 31, the company had $15.5 trillion in assets under administration and custody.

The new unit comes amid a crypto market sell-off that has left bitcoin’s price down 30% in the past two weeks and roughly 70% down from the asset’s all-time high last November. 

It also follows several moves in recent years by Northern Trust to dive deeper in the blockchain space. 

The company partnered with IBM in 2017 to build a blockchain based on the Hyperledger Fabric. The technology was made available to Switzerland-based asset manager Unigestion to manage the administration of its private equity fund. In 2020, Northern Trust and BondEvalue completed the first trade of a fractionalized blockchain-based bond.

More recently, Northern Trust collaborated with the venture arm of Standard Chartered to launch Zodia Custody, a crypto custody solution for institutions. 

Nina Tannenbaum, head of business operations at Algorand, called Northern Trust “a renowned financial institution,” noting that its new unit is an important step for the industry.

“Blockchain technology has the power to fuse traditional finance with the future of finance in a way that’s secure, scalable, and efficient,” Tannenbaum told Blockworks. “We’re happy to welcome Northern Trust to the Web3 ecosystem.”


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 24 - 26, 2026

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Unlocked by Template.png

Research

The march toward an interoperable and onchain-by-default internet depends on reliable messaging and value transfer across heterogeneous domains. Crosschain protocols now process >$1.3T in combined annual transfer volume and secure tens of millions of user interactions, yet no single design dominates.

article-image

The goal, per Santiago Santos, is to make crypto a relatable piece of tech for people who may not even understand it

article-image

Stripe stablecoin unit aims to operate under a federal charter enabling regulated stablecoin issuance and custody services

by Blockworks /
article-image

Will TradFi make crypto better or create more problems than it solves?

article-image

Subtle decisions by risk curators saved Aave from significant turmoil

article-image

The new Rootstock Institutional unit aims to connect professional investors to Bitcoin-native yield and liquidity strategies anchored in BTC’s security layer

by Blockworks /
article-image

DOJ files record civil forfeiture against more than 127,000 BTC linked to scam activity

by Blockworks /