September 30, 2025
By Anjali Kochhar
The financial world is entering a new era as tokenisation, the process of digitising assets on blockchain, gains traction. From real estate to bonds, tokenized assets are transforming the way investors access, trade, and manage wealth. Analysts say this shift promises greater liquidity, transparency, and inclusivity in a market that has traditionally been fragmented and limited to high-net-worth individuals.
Siddharth Ugrankar, CEO and Founder of Qila.io, a blockchain-as-a-service platform, defines tokenisation as “digitising physical assets like real estate, bonds, or even paintings on a blockchain. A token is a piece of such an asset or a fraction of ownership in it. It’s intriguing today, though, in the timing: institutions and investors desire more open, efficient, and transparent markets. Blockchain technology’s mature, regulations are on the horizon, and investor appetite for fractional ownership is strong.”
According to Ugrankar, tokenisation allows previously illiquid assets to become more accessible. “Visualize buying a fraction of a building or bond with the same convenience you’d buy a stock,” he said. This fractional ownership is particularly significant for real estate and private debt markets, where minimum investment thresholds have historically limited participation to affluent investors or institutions.
The interest of major financial institutions such as Nasdaq and Goldman Sachs signals that tokenisation is moving beyond niche applications into mainstream finance. “If issuers like Goldman Sachs or Nasdaq go for tokenisation, it’s a big statement: it’s not a trend, it’s where the future of finance is going. Such endorsements ratify the technology, bring institutional acceptance, and open up for wider usability,” Ugrankar added.
Mathew McDermott, Global Head of Digital Assets at Goldman Sachs, emphasised the firm’s strategic role in tokenisation. “We view permission distributed technologies as the next structural change to financial markets and are already demonstrating the meaningfulness of the technology’s perceived benefits,” he said. McDermott highlighted Goldman Sachs’ GS DAP platform, which is used to manage tokenized money market funds in partnership with BNY Mellon. “We are excited about this strategic collaboration with BNY in our journey towards the longer-term vision for GS DAP and as we continue to lead and innovate in the digital assets space,” he added.
Despite the excitement, challenges remain. Ugrankar outlined a three-headed problem for institutions looking to scale tokenized assets. “Legally, property rights and computer ownership regulations vary country by country. Regulatory, bodies are still constructing frameworks. Technologically, compatibility and scalability issues arise with different blockchains. Institutions must also break through cultural resistance in old-line systems. While promising technology exists, trust, governance, and investor protection are necessary for scale,” he said.
Experts predict that real estate will likely lead adoption due to its high value and historically illiquid nature. “Tokenisation takes a ten million dollar property and breaks it up into convenient ten thousand dollar slices, making investment available to more people,” Ugrankar explained. Bonds, especially private credit and structured debt, are also promising candidates because tokenisation offers increased transparency and faster settlement. Equities, already liquid, may see slower initial adoption but could eventually be tokenized for efficiency and 24/7 trading.
Tokenisation is also expected to reshape global investing. “Tokenisation may eliminate the friction that renders international investing slow, costly, and elite. Picture an Indian investor buying a small slice of U.S. property or a European bond as easily as they order a product online. Because they run on blockchain, tokenized assets may be bought and sold twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, unconstrained by stock exchange hours or geography. Liquidity goes up, settlement risk goes down, and access democratizes,” Ugrankar said.
Regarding mainstream adoption, he said, “We are in early innings yet, but the pace is gathering momentum. Over the next three to five years, pilot projects and institutional uptake will multiply in quantity, driven by high-net-worth individuals. Tokenized property, bonds, and funds may become regular features on mainstream investment platforms in five to ten years. Tokenized assets might join mutual funds and ETFs in diversified retail investor portfolios. Regulation, infrastructure, and confidence will dictate mainstream uptake, but on the back of current momentum and engagement from major financial institutions, tokenisation is a fair expectation to become the norm over the next decade.”
The current wave of tokenisation demonstrates how blockchain technology is moving from experimental use cases to mainstream adoption. By bridging the gap between traditional finance and digital assets, tokenisation promises a more open, efficient, and inclusive global financial system. As institutional support grows and technology matures, experts believe tokenized assets could soon become a standard part of investment portfolios worldwide.
About the author
Anjali Kochhar covers cryptocurrency and blockchain stories in India as well as globally. Having been in the field of media and journalism for over four years now, she has developed a sharp news sense and works hard to present information that goes beyond the obvious. She is an avid reader and loves writing on a wide range of subjects.
