Tokenization puts $33.9B on-chain; what advisors should know

Real-world assets totaling $33.9 billion were tokenized on public blockchains in 2025, excluding stablecoins. Several large asset managers, including BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity and Janus Henderson, have announced tokenization initiatives or products during the period.

Tokenization represents ownership rights or claims on an asset as a digital token on a distributed ledger. Market participants point to faster settlement, the possibility of trading outside normal market hours, and lower back-office and accounting costs as potential benefits. A 2025 estimate from Calastone cited by industry sources projects fund accounting costs could fall about 30% after tokenization.

Market forecasts cited alongside the reporting project long-term potential for tokenized real-world assets between $4 trillion and $30 trillion by 2030.

Product development and infrastructure work are advancing in parallel. Large fund managers have launched tokenized funds, created token-based share classes or partnered with blockchain platforms to test issuance and transfer. Smart contract platforms and emerging token standards are being used to encode distribution schedules, corporate actions and renewal processes into digital instruments.

Regulatory frameworks are evolving. In Europe, regimes such as the Markets in Crypto-Assets rules, adjustments to MiFID II and the EU DLT Pilot Regime provide paths for issuance and trading of digital assets and supervision of service providers. In the United States, existing fund structures and securities laws are being applied to tokenized funds and security tokens, while regulators are focused on custody and transfer processes.

Financial advisors will encounter client questions about routes to exposure. Those routes include direct holdings of security tokens, tokenized fund products, trading on regulated digital-asset platforms, or indirect exposure through funds and ETFs that invest in the infrastructure and protocols that enable tokenization. Market materials cite the CoinShares Altcoins ETF (DIME) as an example of a regulated product that offers exposure to platforms supporting tokenized assets.

Practical considerations for advisors include custody arrangements, settlement mechanics, liquidity assumptions and the legal enforceability of tokenized claims across jurisdictions. The specific rights tied to a token and the identity of the custodian or issuing vehicle determine how closely token ownership matches traditional legal claims.

The current phase of adoption reflects improvements in blockchain infrastructure, clearer regulatory guidance and pilot programs run by established institutions. Early efforts concentrated on niche assets such as art and private equity slices; more recent activity targets fund shares, real estate interests and debt instruments.

A guide for financial advisors circulated by industry firms summarizes tokenization mechanics, applicable legal frameworks and ways investors can access tokenized exposure. The materials aim to help advisors explain potential benefits, relevant risks and operational issues such as settlement and accounting.