Real-world asset tokenization moved from theory and tests to active markets in early 2026. Investors now trade parts of Treasury funds, private company shares, and collectibles on blockchains. Daniel Phillips explained this in a recent CoinMarketCap report.
Key facts:
• Tokenization changes claims on physical or financial items (such as bonds, shares, and commodities) into blockchain tokens. These tokens allow part ownership, round-the-clock settlement, and work with decentralized finance.
• BlackRock launched the BUIDL tokenized fund on Ethereum in March 2024. By early 2026, BUIDL holds about $2.4 billion.
• Circle’s USYC tokenized short-term US Treasuries lead the market with almost $3 billion on-chain, while Franklin Templeton’s BENJI holds $821 million.
• Tokenized stocks grew by nearly 2,900% from 2025 to 2026 to a total of around $963 million. Backed Finance’s XStocks has the most investors.
• Ethereum hosts about $16.6 billion in tokenized assets. On BNB Chain, TVL doubled to roughly $4 billion across bonds, stocks, credit, and commodities.
• New tokens now include graded Pokémon cards, on-chain loans that use physical collectibles as backup, tokens for uranium, copper, and gold, and tokens for Nvidia GPUs that power AI centers.
Why it matters:
Tokenization gives more people a chance to own small parts of assets that used to be hard to trade. It makes trades fast and clear on blockchain networks and ties traditional finance with modern digital systems.
Background:
Blockchain tokenization began with stablecoins in the mid-2010s and grew to include bonds. The European Investment Bank and Hong Kong issued digital bonds in 2023. The GENIUS Act of 2025 created rules for US stablecoins and sped up market growth. Tokenized assets now run on many blockchains, mainly Ethereum and BNB Chain, and serve many roles beyond finance, such as for collectibles and AI compute backup.
