The collaboration is expected to drive new markets and financial products by aligning off-chain financial benchmarks with on-chain innovation.
FTSE has announced that it will be publishing its indices and benchmark data directly onto blockchains. The firm has collaborated with Chainlink to achieve the initiative, with its new publishing service, DataLink.
The collaboration will allow data for the Russell 1000, Russell 2000, Russell 3000, FTSE 100, WMR FX benchmarks, FTSE DAR Digital Asset Prices, and the FTSE Digital Asset Indices to be listed across more than 40 public and private blockchains via DataLink.
The indices support over $18 trillion in assets under management (AUM) worldwide. This means some of the most trusted tools in equities and digital asset analysis will now be available natively within blockchain ecosystems.
Nazarov says the integration is a ‘landmark moment’ for the DeFi industry
Fiona Bassett, CEO at FTSE, revealed that the collaboration enables innovation around tokenized assets, ETFs, and emerging financial products. She added that DataLink allows FTSE Russell to securely distribute the underlying data of some of the most trusted benchmarks on-chain. Bassett believes that the collaboration enables institutions and developers to access the same high-quality data that powers traditional finance (TradFi).
Chainlink Co-Founder Sergey Nazarov called the integration “a landmark moment for the industry.” Nazarov said that DataLink allows globally recognized providers to deliver institutional-grade data directly into blockchain-native environments. Nazarov acknowledged the collaboration with FTSE Russell, noting that it was a step toward enabling the next generation of data-driven financial products and tokenized assets.
According to Chainlink’s PR release, bringing the indices on-chain means developers can build DeFi products with real-time, tamper-proof data verified by a global, trusted index provider. Chainlink added that the collaboration will fast-track the adoption of digital asset-backed instruments, tokenized ETFs, and derivatives.
According to Gerald Toledano, head of Russell’s expansion program into digital assets, the lack of trust in financial benchmarks marks as the biggest challenge for institutional adoption of DeFi in decentralized ecosystems. Toledano believes the latest development reduces the barrier and coils fundamentally change how compliant on-chain financial instruments are structured, priced, and executed.
DataLink, launched earlier this year on Chailink as a turnkey platform that enables providers to publish data securely without requiring proprietary blockchain infrastructure. DataLink uses Chainlink’s decentralized oracle network, which hosts over $100 billion in DeFi total value locked (TVL) and more than $25 trillion in on-chain transaction value to date.
FTSE Russell uses Chainlink’s DataLink for on-chain integration
By integrating with DataLink, FTSE Russell can maintain complete control over how its data is distributed and commercialized, while tapping into over 2,000 on-chain applications across more than 60 blockchains. Based on on-chain data, real-world assets are showing promising growth areas in the blockchain ecosystem, currently at $35 billion, representing a 7% growth over the past 30 days.
Covering anything from U.S. Treasuries to fine art, nearly $7 trillion in asset classes are projected to be tokenized by 2030, according to Goldman Sachs. The most preferred products are index-backed products, which developers and investors seek to build new platforms capable of operating in both regulated and unregulated decentralized ecosystems.
So far, FTSE Russell data is available to blockchain-native users 24/7, opening up new opportunities beyond trading to risk modeling, market analytics, and regulatory compliance tied to tokenized instruments.
The Russell 1000 and 2000 represent the most referenced indices for large and small-cap stocks in the U.S. The FTSE 100, on the other hand, is the defining benchmark for U.K. equities. The collaboration has now expanded into decentralized ecosystems that may reshape the future of cross-border investment vehicles and real-time risk hedging.
Nazarov reiterated that the future of finance will be hybrid, meaning it will combine the integrity of decentralized networks with the performance of traditional finance benchmarks, and he believes this is just the beginning.
Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It’s free.
