Tokenised real-world assets are traditional financial and physical assets represented on blockchain infrastructure, enabling faster settlement, fractional ownership and programmable compliance. In 2026, tokenisation is moving into the mainstream as regulatory clarity improves and institutions adopt blockchain to modernise capital markets. Rather than replacing existing financial systems, tokenised assets upgrade their underlying infrastructure, reducing costs, increasing transparency and improving market efficiency.
Tokenised real-world assets (RWAs) are moving from concept to core financial infrastructure. In 2026, tokenisation is no longer confined to pilot projects or innovation labs; it is being deployed by governments, banks and market infrastructure providers as a practical solution to long-standing inefficiencies in traditional finance. As of 2025, the total value of tokenised RWAs reached almost £18 billion (US$24 billion), reflecting a growth of over 300% in three years.
This shift signals a broader maturation of blockchain technology. As regulation, institutional adoption and enterprise use cases converge, tokenised RWAs are emerging as one of the most commercially viable and strategically important applications of distributed ledger technology.
What Are Tokenised Real-World Assets?
Tokenised real-world assets are traditional assets that are represented digitally on a blockchain, allowing them to be issued, owned, transferred and settled using distributed ledger infrastructure.
These assets typically include:
- Government and corporate bonds
- Real estate and property funds
- Commodities such as gold or carbon credits
- Private credit, funds and other illiquid financial instruments
Tokenisation does not change the underlying asset. Instead, it changes how ownership is recorded, transferred, and governed.
From a legal perspective, tokenised assets are usually backed by enforceable claims on the underlying asset, with blockchain acting as the settlement and record-keeping layer.
Why Tokenisation Solves a Fundamental Problem in Finance
One of the oldest challenges in financial markets is illiquidity. Many valuable assets are expensive to trade, slow to settle, and accessible only to a narrow set of participants.
Tokenisation addresses this problem mechanically rather than ideologically.
By issuing assets on-chain:
- Ownership can be fractionalised, lowering barriers to entry
- Settlement can occur near-instantly, rather than over days
- Transfers can be automated using programmable rules
- Records become auditable and tamper-resistant
In practical terms, tokenisation reduces operational friction. It removes layers of intermediaries involved in clearing, settlement, and reconciliation, which in turn lowers costs and operational risk.
From Experiments to Infrastructure: What Changed?
Until recently, tokenised RWAs were often framed as future possibilities rather than present-day tools. That perception has shifted.
Several developments explain why tokenisation is going mainstream in 2026
1. Regulatory Clarity
Frameworks such as the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation and evolving U.K. digital asset policy have provided greater legal certainty around issuance, custody and compliance. While not designed exclusively for tokenisation, these frameworks reduce regulatory ambiguity for institutions considering on-chain issuance.
2. Institutional Readiness
Banks, custodians and exchanges now have regulated infrastructure capable of supporting tokenised assets, including compliant custody, reporting and risk management systems.
3. Market Pressure
Traditional financial infrastructure is expensive, slow, and operationally complex. Tokenisation offers measurable efficiency gains, particularly for settlement-heavy instruments such as bonds and funds.
The result is a shift from experimentation to implementation.
Which Assets Are Being Tokenised in 2026?
Tokenisation is not limited to a single asset class. However, certain categories have emerged as early leaders.
1. Tokenised Bonds and Funds
Government and corporate bonds are increasingly issued or mirrored on blockchain platforms to reduce settlement times and improve transparency. Tokenised fund units allow for more flexible subscription and redemption processes.
2. Real Estate and Property
Property tokenisation enables fractional ownership of real estate assets that would otherwise be inaccessible to smaller investors. While regulatory treatment varies by jurisdiction, the operational benefits are clear.
3. Commodities and Environmental Assets
Assets such as gold, carbon credits and renewable energy certificates are well suited to tokenisation due to their standardisation and demand for traceability.
Across these categories, the common theme is operational efficiency rather than speculative innovation.
The Role of Blockchain in Tokenised Markets
Blockchain acts as the infrastructure layer for tokenised RWAs, providing:
- A shared ledger for ownership records
- Automated settlement through smart contracts
- Immutable audit trails for regulators and counterparties
- Interoperability with payment and custody systems
Importantly, most tokenised RWA platforms operate in permissioned or hybrid environments, reflecting regulatory and institutional requirements. This challenges the assumption that tokenisation must occur on fully open public networks.
In practice, the focus is on reliability, compliance, and scalability.
Tokenisation and Institutional Adoption
Tokenised RWAs are closely linked to broader institutional adoption of blockchain. In fact, 86% of institutional investors reportedly have exposure to or plan to invest in digital assets, with many specifically eyeing tokenised instruments as part of broader portfolio allocations.
For financial institutions, tokenisation offers:
- Faster capital turnover through shorter settlement cycles
- Reduced counterparty and reconciliation risk
- Improved transparency for compliance and reporting
- New product structures enabled by programmable assets
This explains why tokenisation is often described as the “least controversial” blockchain use case. It does not seek to replace existing markets, but to upgrade their underlying infrastructure.
As discussed in the broader blockchain in 2026 landscape, institutions are adopting blockchain where it delivers tangible operational value.
Policy and Regulatory Considerations
Despite growing blockchain adoption, tokenisation raises important policy questions.
Regulators are examining:
- How tokenised assets fit within existing securities law
- Custody and insolvency treatment of on-chain assets
- The role of intermediaries in decentralised issuance models
- Cross-border recognition of tokenised instruments
In 2026, the direction of travel is clear: tokenised RWAs are being regulated as financial instruments, not as experimental crypto-assets. This alignment with existing legal frameworks is critical for scale.
Why Tokenised RWAs Matter in 2026
The significance of tokenised real-world assets lies not in their novelty, but in their implications.
Tokenisation represents a shift in how financial markets operate:
- From batch settlement to continuous settlement
- From siloed ledgers to shared infrastructure
- From manual processes to programmable automation
These changes have compounding effects across capital markets, payments, and asset management.
In that sense, tokenised RWAs are less about “blockchain adoption” and more about financial system modernisation.
Looking Ahead
As blockchain matures, tokenisation is emerging as one of its most durable and widely accepted applications. This 2026, the question is no longer whether real-world assets can be tokenised, but how extensively and under what regulatory conditions.
The institutions and jurisdictions that succeed will be those that treat tokenisation as infrastructure, not ideology.
For a broader view on how tokenised assets fit into the evolving digital asset ecosystem, explore our guide to blockchain in 2026.
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