Financial institutions are increasingly moving toward an onchain future with tokenization initiatives that provide access to new markets and offer structural advantages compared to traditional investment products, according to Matthew Horne, head of digital asset strategists at Fidelity Investments.
The momentum behind blockchain-based financial infrastructure has crossed a definitive threshold, with legacy institutions deeply embedding distributed ledger technology into their long-term operational strategies. As traditional finance seeks greater efficiency, transparency, and global reach, the tokenization of real-world assets is rapidly transitioning from an experimental sandbox into a core component of modern market architecture.
"In the last 18 months, if you look at the push by true institutions to move toward an onchain future, it’s really no going back," said Horne during a panel discussion at Longitude Singapore on Thursday.
Horne was joined on stage by prominent industry figures, including UBS’s Ka Yan Chan, Securitize’s Chongwu Du, and Maple’s Sidney Powell, in a discussion moderated by The Wall Street Journal’s Jihye Lee. The panel highlighted how major financial heavyweights are actively overhauling their product pipelines to harness the benefits of distributed ledger technology.
US asset managers are particularly incentivized to move assets onchain, as tokenization provides better investor access and helps them reach new markets, explained Horne. By removing traditional geographical and operational friction points, tokenized financial instruments allow asset managers to tap into broader investor bases that were previously constrained by legacy settlement cycles and high intermediary costs.
Market data underscores this accelerating adoption curve. Demand for tokenized assets rose by 41% during the past 30 days, while the number of individual holders topped 493,000, according to data from RWA.xyz. That specific figure measures the total number of distinct blockchain addresses holding tokenized real-world assets, intentionally excluding stablecoins to provide a clearer picture of institutional and retail engagement with yield-bearing and productive tokenized instruments.
Treasuries and equities may bring billions onchain with more US tokenization adoption: UBS
While alternative assets have served as a useful testing ground, the true scale of the tokenization movement will be unlocked when mainstream portfolio staples like government bonds and equities make the full transition to distributed ledgers. Treasuries and equities may bring billions of dollars onchain as the staples of portfolio construction, said Ka Yan Chan, head of digital assets business development at UBS.
The integration of these foundational asset classes requires deep coordination between private financial institutions and public market utilities. Chan emphasized that sustainable, multi-trillion-dollar growth relies heavily on structural upgrades at the very top of the financial hierarchy.
"What would really drive the billions to the trillions is when market infrastructure players like the Fed or DTCC make the first move in transforming the custody layer to a tokenized platform," Chan noted during the panel discussion.
Until central banks and major clearinghouses modernize their foundational settlement and custody layers, private innovators must navigate a patchwork of legacy systems. However, industry participants are positioning themselves to capitalize the moment regulatory frameworks catch up. Chan pointed out that independent players could effectively piggyback on these foundational public initiatives by building the distribution layer and user interfaces required for tokenized assets to circulate smoothly among investors.
The regulatory landscape in the United States has shown signs of progressive adaptation, paving the way for wider institutional participation. In December 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a crucial "no-action" letter to a subsidiary of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, enabling it to offer an innovative securities market tokenization service. This regulatory nod represented a major milestone for market infrastructure modernization.
Furthermore, regulatory momentum has extended into equity markets. In September, the SEC approved a temporary exemption allowing limited trading of tokenized US stocks on certain onchain venues. Building directly upon this regulatory clearance, Securitize announced the launch of trading for tokenized shares representing a dozen of the most widely held US-traded stocks, complete with recognized security entitlements. These incremental approvals signal a growing willingness among regulators to accommodate blockchain-based settlement frameworks for mainstream equities.
The broader macro environment reflects this relentless influx of capital. More than $1.2 billion in fresh capital has moved onchain during the past 30 days alone, pushing the combined aggregate across stablecoins and tokenized assets to more than $323 billion, according to metrics from OnchainBenchmark.
Industry analysts project that this rapid expansion is only the beginning of a much larger structural transformation. Tokenized real-world assets may reach a staggering $4 trillion by the end of 2028, predicted Standard Chartered’s global head of digital asset research, Geoff Kendrick, in an evaluation published earlier in the year. As regulatory clarity improves and major financial institutions continue to build out their digital asset capabilities, the transition from legacy financial rails to a tokenized onchain economy appears increasingly inevitable.
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