Blockchain technology is solving a problem that has existed in finance for centuries: how do you make expensive, illiquid assets accessible to everyday investors? The answer involves converting traditional assets into digital tokens that can be bought, sold, and traded like stocks.
Major players like BlackRock Inc. (NYSE:BLK) and Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE:APO) are betting big on this approach. The tokenized asset market has reached $24 billion in 2025, representing a 308% increase over three years, according to data from RWA.xyz, and financial institutions believe this is just the beginning of a much larger transformation.
Property Investment Gets A Digital Makeover
Buying real estate typically requires hundreds of thousands of dollars, making it impossible for most people to invest in commercial properties or luxury developments. Tokenization changes this equation by splitting properties into thousands of digital shares.
Here’s a practical example. A $50 million office building in Dubai can be divided into 50,000 tokens worth $1,000 each. Investors anywhere in the world can purchase these tokens, receiving proportional rental income and benefiting from property appreciation.
The Dubai Land Department rolled out blockchain based property registration earlier in 2025, making it easier to record ownership digitally. Similar initiatives are happening across Latin America, where developers are tokenizing hotels and apartment buildings. An investor with $10,000 can now own pieces of properties across multiple countries and asset types.
Private Credit Becomes Accessible
Private credit has grown into a $3 trillion industry, but average investors have been locked out due to high minimums and lengthy lockup periods. Wall Street firms are using tokenization to change this dynamic.
Apollo launched a tokenized credit fund in January 2025 through a partnership with Securitize Inc. The fund provides access to corporate lending and structured credit opportunities that were previously available only to institutions. Within six months, it attracted over $100 million from investors.
The fund operates on six different blockchains including Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), and Avalanche (CRYPTO: AVAX). This multi chain approach makes it easier for different types of investors to participate.
Performance has been competitive, beating treasury yields while offering daily liquidity. Investors can buy or sell their positions any business day rather than waiting years for a traditional private credit fund to mature. Private credit now represents roughly $17 billion of the tokenized asset market.
Commodities Move Onto Blockchain
Owning physical gold traditionally meant dealing with storage costs, insurance, and authentication concerns. Tokenization provides a solution by linking digital tokens directly to physical bullion held in secure vaults.
Matrixdock’s XAUm token exemplifies this approach. Each token equals one ounce of London Bullion Market Association certified gold stored in Singapore and Hong Kong vaults. The product has processed over 365,000 transactions and holds more than $45 million in value.
The legitimacy test came in April when Matrixdock completed its first public redemption. An investor converted tokens into a physical kilogram gold bar and picked it up from a Singapore vault. This proved the system genuinely backs tokens with real metal.
Tokenized gold products now exceed $3.6 billion in total value. Matrixdock announced plans in June 2025 to expand into silver, platinum, and palladium. Silver is particularly interesting given its industrial uses in electronics and solar panels, with prices currently above $35 per ounce.
Why Major Institutions Are Participating Now
Several factors explain why 2025 has marked a turning point rather than just another year of experimentation.
Regulatory clarity has improved significantly. The United States has more crypto friendly leadership at agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission. Singapore’s Project Guardian moved from testing phase to commercial deployment with clear operational guidelines. The European Union, Switzerland, and United Arab Emirates have established comprehensive frameworks.
BlackRock’s BUIDL fund demonstrates this institutional confidence. Launched in March 2024, it surpassed $1 billion by March 2025 and peaked near $2.9 billion by mid 2025, making it the world’s largest tokenized treasury product. Major crypto exchanges now accept it as collateral for trading.
The operational benefits are substantial. Traditional securities take two business days to settle, while tokenized assets settle almost instantly. This reduces counterparty risk and frees up capital that would otherwise be locked during settlement periods.
Cost savings matter too. Traditional securities involve multiple intermediaries who each take fees. Tokenization automates many of these functions through smart contracts, potentially reducing costs by 40% to 60% for certain asset classes.
Securitize has become the leading platform in this space, having tokenized over $4 billion in assets for firms like Apollo, BlackRock, and KKR & Co Inc. (NYSE:KKR). The company operates as a registered broker dealer and transfer agent, providing the regulatory structure institutions require.
Custody solutions have matured as well. Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE:BK) custodies BUIDL, while Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) Custody and Anchorage Digital support other tokenized products.
What Comes Next
Market forecasts suggest the tokenized asset market could reach between $500 billion and $3 trillion by 2030. Even conservative estimates point to multi trillion dollar potential within five years.
The range of tokenized assets keeps expanding. Early focus was on real estate, credit, and commodities, but tokenization is now reaching equities, corporate bonds, intellectual property, and carbon credits.
Major banks are moving beyond pilots. JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM), HSBC Holdings Plc (NYSE:HSBC), and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) are all testing or deploying blockchain settlement systems.
Tokenization represents more than just technological improvement. It fundamentally changes how ownership works by making previously illiquid assets tradeable around the clock in global markets. An investor in Lagos can own fractions of Dubai real estate, Apollo credit strategies, and London gold bars, all settling in seconds.
As regulations solidify and infrastructure improves, tokenization looks set to become standard practice in finance rather than an experimental technology. The shift is already happening, driven by real economics.
Benzinga Disclaimer: This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.
ETHGrayscale Ethereum Mini Trust (ETH)$28.912.19%Overview$AVAXAvalanche$12.371.89%$ETHEthereum$3063.502.07%$SOLSolana$127.561.24%APOApollo Asset Management, Inc.$148.481.46%BKBank of New York Mellon Corp$116.410.49%BLKBlackRock Inc$1065.500.88%COINCoinbase Global Inc$251.392.56%GSThe Goldman Sachs Group Inc$899.520.68%HSBCHSBC Holdings PLC$78.280.46%JPMJPMorgan Chase & Co$319.910.85%KKRKKR & Co Inc$131.440.63%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
