Blockchain-driven “real-world asset” platforms are revolutionising asset management, and major financial institutions around the world are speeding up the adoption of tokenisation. Since 2020, banks have invested more than $100 billion in blockchain technology, primarily in tokenisation, custody, and digital settlement systems, according to Ripple.
There is a noticeable industry momentum. Investor demand for tokenised representations of stocks, bonds, real estate, and cash deposits is increasing, according to a Bank of America report, signalling the start of a multi-year shift towards blockchain-based capital markets. According to Deloitte and BPM projections, the number of banks issuing tokenised assets is expected to double by 2025, and by 2030, tokenisation is expected to reach $600 billion.
Cooperation is essential. BlackRock, Fidelity, and other companies are initially involved in the joint effort by Goldman Sachs and BNY Mellon to tokenise money-market fund shares using blockchain infrastructure. In the meantime, Taurus, backed by Deutsche Bank, has introduced a custody and tokenisation platform for institutional banks based in Solana.
The recent partnership between R3 and the Solana Foundation further validated institutional interest by allowing major banks, such as HSBC, Citi, and Bank of America, to tokenise stocks, bonds, and funds on Solana’s public blockchain. If desired, clients can continue to operate on R3’s private Corda ledger.
Creating value: Blockchain-based tokenisation provides 24/7 access, instantaneous settlement, enhanced liquidity, compliance with smart contracts, and reduced operating expenses. Additionally, this model makes fractional ownership possible, democratising access to expensive assets like institutional funds or real estate.
Companies that manage billions of tokenised assets, ranging from digital equity funds to US Treasuries, and offer vital infrastructure for institutional adoption, such as Securitise, are becoming more well-known.
There are still difficulties. Important obstacles to broad adoption are identified as investor education, regulatory clarity, and interoperability between on-chain and conventional finance systems. However, backing from laws like the U.S. GENIUS Act, which offer stablecoin regulation and more transparent frameworks, points to a more promising future.
Global banks are generally moving from pilot projects to production-grade tokenisation strategies, which indicates that asset management is undergoing a structural change. With regulatory frameworks changing and infrastructure growing quickly, 2025 looks to be the year that tokenisation transitions from a niche innovation to an institutional standard.
