Institutions Moving Toward Tokenized Onchain Future, ‘No Going Back,’ Says Fidelity

Financial institutions are increasingly moving toward an onchain future with tokenization initiatives which provide access to new markets and offer structural advantages compared to traditional investment products, according to Matthew Horne, head of digital asset strategists at Fidelity Investments.

“In the last 18 months, if you look at the push by true institutions to move toward an onchain future, it’s really no going back,” said Horne during a panel discussion at Longitude Singapore on Thursday. 

US asset managers are particularly incentivized to move assets onchain as tokenization provides better investor access and helps them “reach new markets,” explained Horne.

Demand for tokenized assets rose by 41% during the past 30 days as the number of holders topped 493,000, according to RWA.xyz.  That figure measures the total number of addresses holding tokenized real world assets, excluding stablecoins.

(From left to right): WSJ’s Jihye Lee, Fidelity’s Matthew Horne, UBS’ Ka Yan Chan, Securitize’s Chongwu Du, Maple’s Sidney Powell, speaking at a panel discussion at Longitude in Singapore. Source: Cointelegraph

Treasuries and equities may bring billions onchain with more US tokenization adoption: UBS 

Treasuries and equities may bring billions of dollars onchain as the staples of portfolio construction, said Ka Yan Chan, head of digital assets business development at UBS.

“What would really drive the billions to the trillions is when market infrastructure players like the Fed or DTCC make the first move in transforming the custody layer to a tokenized platform.” 

Industry players could “piggyback” on these initiatives by building the distribution layer for tokenized assets, said Chan. 

In December 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a “no action” letter to a subsidiary of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), enabling it to offer a new securities market tokenization service.

In September, the SEC approved a temporary exemption allowing limited trading of tokenized US stocks on certain onchain venues. Earlier on Thursday, Securitize announced the launch of trading of the tokenized shares of a dozen of the most widely held US traded stocks that will include security entitlements.

Related: US financial markets ‘poised to move on-chain’ amid DTCC tokenization greenlight

More than $1.2 billion in capital has moved onchain during the past 30 days, boosting the total across stablecoins and tokenized assets to more than $323 billion, according to OnchainBenchmark.

Capital moving onchain during the past 30 days. Source: OnchainBenchmark

Tokenized RWAs may reach $4 trillion by the end of 2028, predicted Standard Chartered’s global head of digital asset research, Geoff Kendrick, in August.

Magazine: How Hong Kong is turning tokenized bonds into real market infrastructure