Real-world asset tokenization (RWA) could be a lightbulb moment for blockchain technology. It allows us to record ownership of anything, from real estate to art to equities on the blockchain. To give you an unusual example, Win Investments let soccer clubs sell tokens to invest in the careers of individual footballers and earn a cut of any transfer fees.
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Stablecoins are a more common form of tokenization. These tokenized versions of currencies like the U.S. dollar surged in 2025 after the U.S. passed legislation that sets out rules for stablecoin issuance and operations. The speed and low costs of on-chain transactions could see them expand as payment rails and global money transfer. Their growth has stimulated other types of real-world asset tokenization.
Here are just four of the industries that tokenization could transform in 2026 and beyond.
1. U.S. Treasuries
Tokenized U.S. Treasury bonds, bills, and notes make up a large portion of the on-chain assets today. They are relatively straightforward assets to tokenize and smart contracts can ensure each tokenized T-bill is supported by one in the real world. Interest payments and token management can also be automated via smart contracts. Moreover, instant settlement times could help streamline a relatively inefficient system.
According to rwa.xyz, there's about $8.7 billion in on-chain U.S. Treasuries, which is about 45% of the total $19.4 billion in RWA. While it's a sizable portion of tokenized assets, it is still only a tiny fraction of the almost $28 trillion in issued U.S. Treasuries. We can expect to see more Treasuries move online in 2026.
2. Equity and commodity trading
Tokenization makes it easier to buy or sell assets from anywhere in the world at any time of the day or night. Increased fractionalization will also go beyond the current fractionalized shares on offer and mean people can invest small amounts in a broader range of assets. There are pros and cons to taking the friction out of trading and some are concerned about the erosion of investor protections and removal of safeguards.
Concerns aside, the wheels are very much in motion, both from a regulatory and business standpoint. For example, last September, Nasdaq submitted a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a first step toward bringing assets on-chain. It wants investors and firms to be able to trade tokenized stocks and exchange-traded products.
In December, the SEC issued a no-action letter to The Depository Trust Company (DTC), which is responsible for clearing and settlement services across the securities industry. It marked a big step toward moving markets on-chain as it allows a pilot version of DTC's tokenized services to operate for three years under various provisions.
Brokerages and crypto exchanges are already exploring tokenized products. Last summer, Robinhood introduced tokenized stocks for European customers. It used the launch to highlight another potential benefit of tokenized stocks: the ability to buy tokenized shares in private companies that would otherwise be out of reach for many retail investors. Meanwhile, Coinbase launched tokenized stocks for U.S. investors at the end of 2025.
3. Real estate
Unlike other industries on this list, tokenization has not yet made serious inroads in real estate investing. However, the Deloitte Center for Financial Services predicts that $4 trillion of real estate will be tokenized by 2035 -- up from about $300 billion in 2024. It sees opportunities in the tokenization of real estate funds, loans, and undeveloped land.
Tokenization means people can buy fractional stakes in property, which significantly lowers the barrier to entry. Putting real estate investments on-chain could also reduce transaction costs and result in speedier sales. For this to happen, we'll need to see further regulatory clarity and more use cases to build investor confidence.
4. Cryptocurrency
The concept of tokens is already baked into cryptocurrency. However, the growth of RWA tokenization could prove transformative in a different way: It may be crypto's ticket to the mainstream. Smart-contract cryptocurrencies like Ethereum (ETH 0.59%) and Solana (SOL +2.19%), where some tokenization takes place, could see a monumental shift in usage.
CRYPTO: ETH
Key Data Points
According to consulting firm McKinsey, the RWA tokenization market might reach $2 trillion by 2030. It also says stablecoin issuance could reach $2 trillion by 2028. Even if only a part of that takes place on public blockchains, Ethereum's total locked value (the amount of funds on its network) could soar. That's already starting to happen -- rwa.xyz shows Ethereum has about 65% of the total value in distributed RWA on chain.
Tokenization is taking off
Tokenization will be an important theme to watch in 2026. Major financial institutions such as BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and JPMorgan have already launched tokenized funds. These, alongside a likely surge in stablecoin usage, could be the tipping point. So much so that Standard Chartered Chief Executive Officer Bill Winters told a conference in late 2025 that we'll eventually see the majority of transactions being settled on the blockchain. We can expect tokenization to have a significant impact on these four industries and many more.
