tokenization

According to The Block, Ciarán Fitzpatrick, the global head of ETF products at JPMorgan Securities Services, stated: "We believe that tokenization will definitely drive changes in the market, not only for ETFs but for the entire fund industry as well."Ciarán Fitzpatrick pointed out that given the many benefits that tokenization may bring, such as more convenient subscription and redemption, "almost instant settlement," and uninterrupted access, experiments with ETF tokenization are still ongoing. He added: "I think tokenization will become part of the ETF ecosystem, but it will be a few years before we see some really good use cases."

Jefferies, a Wall Street investment bank, pointed out that the approximately $293 million attack incident on Kelp DAO exposed critical infrastructure risks, which may prompt traditional financial institutions to reassess the pace of blockchain and tokenization advancement.Jefferies believes that the attackers triggered market sell-offs and liquidity strains by minting uncollateralized tokens and engaging in cross-platform lending. This incident is thought to be related to the Lazarus Group and also highlights the single point of failure issues in the verification mechanisms of cross-chain bridges. As institutions accelerate the tokenization of assets (such as funds, bonds, and deposits), the associated risks may cause some banks and asset management institutions to delay deployment and prioritize examining system security. Especially in scenarios that rely on cross-chain infrastructure, security vulnerabilities could lead to market fragmentation, undermining the practical utility of tokenized assets.Despite short-term confidence being shaken, Jefferies still emphasizes that the long-term trend remains unchanged. Under the backdrop of regulatory advancements and continuous improvements in infrastructure, applications such as stablecoins still have growth potential. However, the industry as a whole is still in the early stages of development and requires time to enhance system robustness.

ChainCatcher reported live that Li Baiwei, Partner at HashKey Tokenisation, John Cahill, Chief Operating Officer of Galaxy Digital Asia, Abdelhamid Bizid, Managing Director of BlackRock, and Min Lin, Managing Director and Head of Global Business Development at Ondo Finance, attended the HK Web3 Feastival roundtable to share insights on "From Wall Street to Blockchain: The Practical Logic and Future Landscape of Global RWA Issuance."The attendees generally agreed that the core value of RWA and asset tokenization is no longer just an innovative narrative at the conceptual level, but a realistic path for upgrading financial market infrastructure. John Cahill stated that blockchain is essentially a superior "underlying pipeline" for financial markets, and in the long run, the ultimate goal of financial markets will be "tokenization of everything"; what truly needs attention is not whether tokenization will happen, but whether market participants have already begun preparing for this endgame.Abdelhamid Bizid pointed out that from the perspective of traditional asset management institutions, the current tokenized products primarily serve clients who do not wish to move funds out of the on-chain ecosystem but want to achieve stable returns and compliant asset allocation tools. BlackRock has seen a clear demand for on-chain yield products and will continue to launch more new products. However, he also emphasized that the real bottleneck in the industry at this stage is not technology, but rather institutional adoption, demand validation, liquidity depth, regulatory clarity, and non-technical barriers such as costs and taxation.Min Lin, drawing from Ondo's practice, stated that the key to tokenized stocks is not just moving U.S. stocks onto the blockchain, but transforming stocks that are originally static in brokerage accounts into programmable financial instruments that can serve as collateral, margin, and lending assets in DeFi, further unlocking capital efficiency. He mentioned that the main demand currently observed by Ondo still comes from retail and crypto-native funds in regions like Asia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, which find it difficult to directly access the U.S. stock market. This indicates that tokenized stocks at this stage are more like "global asset access tools" rather than mainstream trading venues for institutional funds.

ChainCatcher reported live that Celine Tan, Head of Liquidity Distribution at BNY Mellon Investment Management Hong Kong Limited, Kelly Sohn, Head of Digital Asset Strategy at Mirae Asset Securities (HK) Limited, Victor Jung, Head of Digital Assets at Hamilton Lane, and Xu Ping, Managing Director of Global Investment Banking at JPMorgan, attended the HK Web3 Feastival roundtable to share "The RWA Moment in Asia-Pacific: Hong Kong vs Singapore."The attendees generally believe that RWA is currently transitioning from proof of concept to broader implementation, driven mainly by the gradual maturity of technology, increasingly clear regulatory frameworks, and the rising market demand for stable, yield-generating asset allocations.Kelly Sohn stated that this round of RWA warming is different from the past, not driven by a single factor, but rather the result of the combined effects of technology, regulation, and capital flow. She also pointed out that the assets currently more suitable for tokenization include standardized products such as money market funds and commodities, and the combination of stablecoins and tokenized assets will further enhance on-chain transaction and settlement efficiency.Xu Ping mentioned that Singapore has become more cautious overall after the FTX incident, with a greater focus on institutional investors; in contrast, Hong Kong has advantages in retail access, licensing systems, and market innovation inclusiveness, making it more attractive to exchanges, stablecoin issuers, and custodians. She also noted that banks will play a key role in infrastructure, custody, and payment settlement within the RWA ecosystem.Victor Jung indicated that the market has previously focused too much on the institutional narrative, but the retail side is also an important source of demand for tokenization. He summarized the current demand into two categories: one is to obtain more yield through on-chain solutions, and the other is to reduce costs by improving efficiency. In his view, the industry driving force has gradually shifted from early technology supply to being driven by real investor demand.The roundtable discussion also mentioned that for RWA to further expand its application in the next phase, it still needs to address issues such as regulatory clarity, institutional infrastructure readiness, and investor education, as these factors remain key variables affecting the further development of the market.

According to CoinDesk, Abu Dhabi-regulated tokenization infrastructure company KAIO announced the completion of a $8 million strategic financing round, led by Tether with participation from multiple crypto and institutional investors, bringing the total funding to $19 million. New investors include Systemic Ventures, Further Ventures, and Laser Digital, while existing shareholders like Brevan Howard Digital continue to participate.KAIO is committed to packaging traditional fund products from institutions such as BlackRock, Brevan Howard, and Hamilton Lane onto the blockchain, lowering the entry barrier with a minimum investment of just $100 for qualified users. The company plans to expand its business into credit, structured products, and ETFs, and collaborate with UAE private equity giant Mubadala Capital, which manages $385 billion in assets, to launch on-chain funds.Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that KAIO will bring institutional-grade assets onto the blockchain and achieve broader accessibility, opening new pathways for capital formation and investment. The KAIO platform is embedded with a compliance framework that supports regulatory systems in Abu Dhabi, the Cayman Islands, Singapore, and more. Currently, the company manages approximately $100 million in assets and has processed over $500 million in transactions.

According to CoinDesk, citing informed sources, Coinbase is collaborating with the cryptocurrency exchange platform Bybit to explore methods for tokenization, custody, and distribution of assets such as U.S. public and pre-IPO stocks.The informed source added that the ongoing discussions do not involve any form of equity acquisition or similar transactions. Bybit's plans to enter the U.S. market involve a new entity led by former co-CEO Helen Liu, working with a local partner providing licensing and compliance services whose identity has not been disclosed, rather than Coinbase.CoinDesk reported that both Bybit and Coinbase declined to comment.

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has announced a new regulatory framework that allows tokenized investment products approved by the Commission to be traded in the secondary market, in order to promote the development of digital asset trading activities in Hong Kong.The new guidelines primarily facilitate the secondary market trading of tokenized open-ended funds on licensed virtual asset trading platforms and will consider allowing over-the-counter trading arrangements on a case-by-case basis. As of March 2026, there are already 13 tokenized products available to the public in Hong Kong, with the total asset value of tokenized equity management assets increasing to approximately 10.7 billion. The first batch of products is expected to mainly consist of tokenized money market funds. The new measures cover fair pricing, orderly trading, liquidity provision, and information disclosure.

The bond tokenization platform BlockInvest announced the completion of a €4 million strategic round of financing, with Italy's UniCredit participating and acquiring a 16% stake in the company.It is reported that BlockInvest will assist UniCredit in issuing Italy's first native digital mini-bond, as well as the first blockchain-based tokenized structured notes aimed at wealth management clients, and will build a system that combines digital ledger programmability with finance.

According to FinanceFeeds, Morgan Stanley stated that the tokenization of real-world assets has become the "next major step" in its global business and has incorporated it into its strategic focus on upgrading traditional financial infrastructure with blockchain.The institution mentioned plans to integrate traditional assets with digital assets in a regulated environment, advance near real-time on-chain settlement, and launch an institutional digital wallet in the second half of 2026, supporting tokenized traditional investment products as well as cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. At the same time, Morgan Stanley is also advancing the tokenization of the private equity secondary market and the construction of on-chain and off-chain settlement processes.

The UK asset management firm Legal & General has put its managed liquidity funds, exceeding £50 billion, on-chain through the tokenized distribution network launched by Calastone.The firm is now offering money market funds in tokenized share form on this network, supporting USD, EUR, and GBP, covering issuance, trading, and same-day settlement. Investors can purchase, hold, and transfer the related tokenized shares within a permissioned, regulated network. The relevant funds will be deployed on Ethereum and compatible blockchains, with plans to expand to more networks in the future.

Sharon Yeshaya, Chief Financial Officer of Morgan Stanley, stated that tokenization and on-chain finance will become key evolutionary directions for its wealth management business.The company is envisioning a "tokenized world," where customer assets and liabilities can flow as efficiently as funds through blockchain infrastructure, thereby reshaping asset allocation, lending, and cash management methods. Unlike viewing cryptocurrency as a standalone business, Morgan Stanley plans to embed on-chain capabilities into its core service system, including investment advisory, financing, and liquidity management, to drive an overall upgrade of the financial architecture. This strategy has been gradually implemented through digital asset pilots with ZeroHash and products like Bitcoin ETFs. Although the current share of cryptocurrency business in the overall system is still small, its position in the future wealth management system is rapidly increasing.

According to The Block, the startup Brix, which is dedicated to tokenizing assets in emerging markets, announced the completion of a $5.5 million financing round, with participation from the venture capital arm of Yapi Kredi, FRWRD, Is Asset Management, as well as crypto investment firms Circle Ventures, ConsenSys, and Borderless Capital.Brix plans to launch on the MegaETH network, aiming to bring trading strategies traditionally dominated by large financial institutions on-chain.