From experimental to institutional-grade tokenization

For years, tokenization lived in an innovation state comprised of many pilots and a lot of promise, driven by a few true believers. That phase is over.

Real-world assets (RWAs) on public blockchains have grown from roughly $5 billion in 2022 to about $29.4 billion, an increase of around 488% in three years. If you extend the lens beyond public chains to include private platforms and off-chain representations, the market already exceeds $50 billion, and projections for 2030–2033 run into the trillions. What was once an experiment is now a live, regulated, and increasingly global market infrastructure.

Most of that value is concentrated in a few asset classes. Private credit accounts for roughly $16.8 billion, U.S. Treasuries for about $7.5 billion, and commodities (mainly tokenized gold) contribute about $2 billion. Around this core, other categories are accelerating: trade finance, real estate, carbon markets, intellectual property, and more. Geographically, activity is anchored by the U.S., the EU, Switzerland, the UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, Brazil, the UAE, and South Africa, where regulators have started issuing clear rules, sandboxes, or specific regimes for digital securities and stablecoins.

In other words, tokenization today is not a single niche product; it is a multi-jurisdictional market that institutions already rely on for real money decisions.

What is actually being tokenized?

One of the most striking findings from the 2025 data is how broad the tokenization surface has become. Governments and central banks are indirectly involved via sovereign bonds and bills, especially U.S. Treasuries and European government debt. Private credit and trade finance are major categories: SME loans, receivables, and structured credit products can be carved into tranches and sold to investors with far more transparency and operational efficiency than traditional paper-based processes.

The fund world is following the same path. Money market funds, private equity vehicles, hedge funds, and real estate funds are issuing tokenized units that behave like traditional fund shares from a legal point of view but live natively on-chain for issuance, transfer and occasionally (when relevant). Real estate – commercial, residential, and industrial – is being fractionalized into smaller tickets, lowering the bar for entry and opening new channels for cross-border capital.

What this means for decision-makers

For issuers, asset managers, fintechs, and corporates, the question is no longer whether tokenization will matter, but where it will matter first.

Organizations tend to be especially well-positioned when they manage high-value assets, operate across multiple jurisdictions, or are already exploring fractional ownership or embedded finance. In those situations, the combination of programmable assets, instant or near-instant settlement, and global distribution is directly linked to strategic goals: lower funding costs, broader investor bases, and new product lines.

Moving from interest to implementation requires a few foundational choices. One is the infrastructure model: whether to use public blockchains, permissioned networks, or a hybrid approach. Another is standardization: agreeing on token standards that satisfy both technical and regulatory requirements. A third is the choice of partners—regulated tokenization platforms, custodians, and trading venues that already support end-to-end workflows and integrate with existing back-office systems.

Once those elements are in place, the value-creation paths are clear. Tokenization can be used to fractionalize assets, allowing smaller tickets into strategies that used to be reserved for institutions. It can optimize treasury and balance-sheet management by turning idle balances into programmable holdings of tokenized cash equivalents. And it can unlock secondary liquidity for assets that were previously hard to trade, shortening holding periods and improving capital efficiency.

The story of the past decade is that tokenization has evolved from proof-of-concepts into infrastructure that underpins real, regulated financial activity at scale. The next chapter will not be written in labs but in treasury teams, product roadmaps, and investment committees that decide which parts of their business should move first onto this programmable, global asset layer.