Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are collaborating to use blockchain technology to maintain an ownership record of money market funds.

For all the sci-fi promises about blockchain transforming finance, the reality will be more mundane as thousands of ordinary instruments quietly move to digital ledgers. On Wednesday, it was money market funds.

The banking giants join a growing list of traditional financial firms seeking to bring crypto technology to assets ranging from stocks and investment funds to commodities.