Fidelity: 'No going back' as institutions embrace a tokenized onchain future
Matthew Horne, head of digital asset strategists at Fidelity Investments, highlights a strong institutional shift towards onchain tokenization that unlocks new markets and structural advantages over traditional investment products. Surging demand for tokenized assets is evidenced by significant growth in holders and capital onchain. Industry leaders from UBS and Standard Chartered forecast billions to trillions of dollars flowing into tokenized real-world assets in the coming years, signaling a transformative move in financial markets.
Institutional Shift to Onchain Tokenization
During a panel at Longitude Singapore, Matthew Horne emphasized that over the last 18 months, institutional players have accelerated the move towards an onchain future with tokenization, marking a point of no return from traditional structures.
US asset managers, in particular, are motivated to transition to onchain tokenized assets, as this technology improves investor access and opens up new market opportunities.
Rising Demand and Growing Holder Numbers
Data from RWA.xyz shows a 41% surge in demand for tokenized assets over the past 30 days, with total holders exceeding 493,000 addresses, excluding stablecoins.
This rise underlines the increasing interest in digitized real-world assets and the expanding infrastructure supporting tokenized products.
US Treasuries and Equities Unlock Billions onchain: UBS Perspective
Ka Yan Chan of UBS pointed out that treasuries and equities, foundational portfolio components, could channel billions of dollars onchain.
The key to scaling from billions to trillions lies in market infrastructure players — such as the US Federal Reserve or Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) — modernizing custody layers to tokenized platforms.
Such advancements would enable other market participants to build distribution frameworks atop these foundational infrastructure changes.
Regulatory Developments and New Services Launch
In December 2025, the SEC issued a no-action letter to a DTCC subsidiary, enabling it to offer a securities market tokenization service.
In September, the SEC approved a temporary exemption permitting limited trading of tokenized US stocks on certain onchain venues.
On the day of the panel, Securitize announced the launch of trading for tokenized shares of a dozen widely-held US stocks with incorporated security entitlements.
Capital Flows and Market Expansion Forecasts
Over the last 30 days, onchain capital inflows surpassed $1.2 billion, increasing the total capital across stablecoins and tokenized assets to over $323 billion, according to OnchainBenchmark.
Geoff Kendrick of Standard Chartered has forecasted that tokenized real-world assets could reach $4 trillion by the end of 2028, emphasizing the rapid growth potential in this sector.
Why it matters
This news highlights a pivotal financial industry trend: the institutional shift towards tokenization and onchain infrastructure. This evolution offers investors enhanced access and unlocks new market segments previously out of reach for traditional investment vehicles. Regulatory endorsements, commercial deployments, and significant capital inflows onto blockchains underscore tokenization’s establishment as a vital part of the future global financial ecosystem. Trillion-dollar market forecasts illustrate the immense potential for this trend to reshape capital allocation and portfolio construction worldwide.
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