Research Desk12 October 20265 min read
For years, tokenization lived in pilot programs: small issuances, friendly counterparties, press releases. That phase is ending. Regulated institutions are now issuing tokenized funds and bonds on live infrastructure, with real settlement and real investors.
Three shifts made this possible. Custody matured — qualified custodians now support digital assets natively. Regulation clarified — frameworks in the EU, Singapore and the UAE give issuers a rulebook instead of a grey zone. And interoperability improved — assets can move between permissioned and public chains without bespoke bridges.
The remaining blockers are operational, not technological: transfer-agent integration, investor onboarding at scale, and secondary liquidity. Teams planning a tokenization product should design for those workflows first — the smart contract is the easy part.