The International Monetary Fund says tokenization can lower friction and increase transparency in finance, but it may also introduce risks that affect financial stability. In a 23-page report released Thursday, the IMF concluded that “the net effect of tokenization on financial stability is uncertain,” noting that atomic settlement and greater transparency can lessen some traditional risks while speed and automation create new ones.
Onchain data from RWA.xyz shows more than $27.6 billion of real-world assets (excluding stablecoins) are tokenized today. Market forecasts vary widely: Boston Consulting Group estimated in 2022 that tokenization could reach $16 trillion by 2030, while McKinsey projected a more conservative $2 trillion by the same year.
The IMF says tokenization changes how securities and other financial products are issued, traded, settled and managed, shifting risk away from banks and toward shared ledgers and smart contract code. The agency warned that stress events in tokenized markets are likely to unfold faster than in traditional systems, leaving less time for discretionary intervention.
While tokenization could bring benefits to emerging markets—such as faster cross-border payments and expanded financial inclusion—the IMF cautioned it could also increase the risk of volatile capital flows, rapid currency substitution and erosion of monetary sovereignty.
Wall Street executives are among the strongest proponents of tokenization. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and other industry leaders have promoted tokenizing stocks, bonds, money market funds and real estate. The largest real-world-asset (RWA) tokenization platform by total value locked is Securitize, which powers the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, with about $3.38 billion, according to CryptoDep data cited April 1. Tether Gold and Ondo Finance follow with roughly $3.35 billion and $3.21 billion, respectively.
Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, announced plans in January to build a tokenization platform intended to enable 24/7 trading and near-instant settlement of stocks and ETFs with a blockchain-based post-trade system.
However, the IMF highlighted legal uncertainty as a major barrier. Without clear rules on ownership records and settlement finality, tokenized markets risk being fragmented and remaining peripheral. The crypto industry is working on technical and governance solutions: for example, the Ethereum ERC-3643 permissioned token standard is designed to limit access to eligible investors and support compliance and identity checks.
A recent example of industry adoption: Coinbase Asset Management, in partnership with Apex Group, launched tokenized shares for the Coinbase Bitcoin Yield Fund on Ethereum layer-2 Base on March 20, using ERC-3643 to verify token holder identity and eligibility.
Overall, the IMF portrays tokenization as a technology with meaningful potential benefits but with uncertain net effects on financial stability unless legal, operational and supervisory challenges are addressed.