Tokenisation of Real-World Assets
The process of representing ownership of real-world assets — bonds, real estate, commodities, private credit — as digital tokens on a blockchain, enabling fractional ownership, instant settlement, and global liquidity.
Tokenisation of Real-World Assets
Tokenisation is the process of creating a digital representation of a real-world asset on a blockchain. The token represents ownership rights, entitlements, or claims on the underlying asset — and can be transferred, traded, or used as collateral with the speed and programmability of a blockchain transaction.
What Can Be Tokenised
- Government bonds and treasuries — BlackRock's BUIDL fund, Franklin Templeton's BENJI
- Private credit — on-chain lending to real-world borrowers (Centrifuge, Maple, Goldfinch)
- Real estate — fractional ownership of property portfolios
- Commodities — gold (PAXG), carbon credits, agricultural products
- Equities — tokenised shares of public and private companies
- Art and collectibles — fractional ownership of high-value assets
Why It Matters
Traditional financial assets suffer from:
- Illiquidity — private credit, real estate, and many securities are difficult to trade
- High minimums — institutional products require large minimum investments
- Slow settlement — T+2 or longer for most securities
- Geographic barriers — access restricted by jurisdiction and intermediaries
- Opacity — limited real-time visibility into holdings and flows
Tokenisation addresses all of these:
- 24/7 liquidity — tokens can be traded on secondary markets at any time
- Fractional ownership — $100 exposure to a $100M bond fund
- Instant settlement — atomic swaps eliminate counterparty risk
- Global access — anyone with a wallet can participate
- Transparency — on-chain reserves are auditable in real time
The Institutional Wave
The tokenisation of real-world assets crossed $10 billion in on-chain value in 2025, driven by:
- BlackRock launching BUIDL on Ethereum
- Franklin Templeton expanding its on-chain money market fund
- JPMorgan using its Onyx platform for tokenised repo transactions
- Regulatory clarity from MiCA (EU) and evolving US frameworks
The Thesis
Tokenisation is the bridge between traditional finance and DeFi. It brings real-world yield on-chain while giving traditional assets the programmability, composability, and accessibility of blockchain. This convergence will drive the next trillion dollars of value into decentralised financial infrastructure.