Financial institutions are increasingly adopting tokenization for onchain assets, offering structural advantages and new market access, according to Fidelity. Matthew Horne, head of digital asset strategists at Fidelity, stated that institutional movement towards an onchain future is irreversible. Asset managers are particularly motivated by improved investor access and the ability to reach new markets through tokenized real-world assets.
The increasing institutional adoption of tokenization and onchain assets signifies a potential structural shift in financial markets, promising greater efficiency, broader market access, and new investment opportunities, while also highlighting the critical role of infrastructure providers and regulators in facilitating this transition.
Financial institutions are increasingly embracing tokenization to bring assets onchain, a trend that Fidelity believes is irreversible and offers significant structural advantages over traditional investment products. Matthew Horne, head of digital asset strategists at Fidelity Investments, stated that the institutional push towards an onchain future is well underway and shows no signs of slowing.
Horne highlighted that asset managers are particularly motivated by tokenization's ability to provide enhanced investor access and open up new markets. Data from RWA.xyz indicates a 41% increase in demand for tokenized assets over the past 30 days, with the number of holders surpassing 493,000. This figure specifically tracks addresses holding tokenized real-world assets, excluding stablecoins.
According to Ka Yan Chan, head of digital assets business development at UBS, tokenizing core portfolio components like Treasuries and equities could unlock billions of dollars onchain. She suggested that widespread adoption of tokenized assets would accelerate if major market infrastructure players, such as the Federal Reserve or the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), were to transition their custody layers to tokenized platforms. Industry participants could then build distribution layers for these tokenized assets.
Regulatory developments are supporting this shift. In December 2025, the SEC granted a subsidiary of the DTCC a no-action letter to offer a tokenization service for securities markets. Furthermore, in September, the SEC approved a temporary exemption that permits limited trading of tokenized US stocks on specific onchain venues. Securitize has also launched trading for tokenized shares of several widely held US stocks.
Onchain data from OnchainBenchmark shows that over $1.2 billion in capital has moved onchain in the last 30 days, bringing the total value of stablecoins and tokenized assets to over $323 billion. Standard Chartered's global head of digital asset research, Geoff Kendrick, previously predicted that tokenized real-world assets could reach $4 trillion by the end of 2028.
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