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The International Monetary Fund said tokenization has the potential to remove friction and boost transparency in finance, but warned that the technology could also create challenges that affect financial stability.
"The net effect of tokenization on financial stability is uncertain,” the IMF <a href="https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/068/2026/001/068.2026.issue-001-en.xml" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">said</a> in a 23-page report on Thursday, stating that “atomic settlement and enhanced transparency reduce some traditional risks, but speed and automation introduce new ones.”
<figure><img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2026-04/019d517f-63e3-7bac-8ac7-3283906dbac6.png" alt="Tokenization makes finance more efficient but introduces risks: IMF">
 <figcaption>Source: <a href="https://x.com/IMFNews/status/2039699478681366726" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">IMF</a>
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More than $27.6 billion worth of real-world assets, minus stablecoins, is currently tokenized onchain, <a href="https://app.rwa.xyz/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">data</a> from RWA.xyz shows. Boston Consulting Group estimated in 2022 that the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/australian-central-bank-backs-rwa-tokenisation-explores-digital-finance-sandbox" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">tokenization market</a> could rise to $16 trillion by 2030, while McKinsey &amp; Co in 2024 predicted a more conservative $2 trillion over the same time frame.
The IMF acknowledged that tokenization expands how securities and other financial products are issued, traded, settled and managed but said it shifts risks from the banking system to shared ledgers and smart contract code.
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 “Stress events in tokenized markets are likely to unfold faster than in traditional systems, leaving less time for discretionary intervention."
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The agency also said tokenization offers opportunities in <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/fsb-dollar-stablecoins-risk-emerging-markets" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">emerging markets,</a> such as faster <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/openfx-raises-94m-stablecoin-fx-cross-border-payments" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">cross-border payments</a> and <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/opinion/governments-cbdcs-financial-inclusion" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">financial inclusion</a> but added that it “raises the risk of volatile capital flows, rapid currency substitution, and erosion of monetary sovereignty.”
<h2 id="wall-street-advocates-for-tokenization">Wall Street advocates for tokenization</h2>
Blockchain tokenization has been pushed by Wall Street leaders such as <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/blackrock-ceo-larry-fink-bitcoin-strategy-shift" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, </a>who is among those seeking to tokenize everything from stocks and bonds to money market funds and real estate.
The biggest RWA tokenization platform by total value locked is Securitize — the tokenization platform behind the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/blackrock-buidl-helps-avalanche-tokenization-value-q4" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund</a> — at $3.38 billion, <a href="https://x.com/Crypto_Dep/status/2039341200625352882" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">according</a> to CryptoDep, citing data from April 1.
<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bybit-yield-tokenized-gold-xaut-rwa-trend" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Tether Gold</a> and Ondo Finance are close behind at $3.35 billion and $3.21 billion, respectively.
<figure><img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2026-04/019d517f-6e2c-7111-895c-3a4043e2564d.jpg" alt="Tokenization makes finance more efficient but introduces risks: IMF">
 <figcaption>Source: <a href="https://x.com/Crypto_Dep/status/2039341200625352882" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CryptoDep</a>
 </figcaption>
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The New York Stock Exchange’s parent, Intercontinental Exchange, is also taking action, announcing in January that it would <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/nyse-develops-blockchain-trading-platform-tokenized-stocks-etfs" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">launch a tokenization platform</a> for 24/7 trading and instant settlement of stocks and exchange-traded funds with a blockchain post-trade system.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/opinion/liquidity-determines-tokenization-value" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Liquidity, not novelty, determines tokenization’s value</a>
However, the IMF said legal challenges present another obstacle, stating that without legal clarity over ownership records and settlement finality, tokenized markets risk being “fragmented and peripheral.”
The crypto industry has been developing solutions to address this problem, such as the&nbsp;Ethereum ecosystem’s ERC-3643 permissioned token standard, which ensures that only certain investors have access to tokenized products.
Coinbase Asset Management launched tokenized shares for the Coinbase <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbase-apex-tokenized-bitcoin-yield-fund-base" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Bitcoin Yield Fund</a> on Ethereum layer 2 Base on March 20, with the help of financial services firm Apex Group, which implemented the ERC-3643 standard to ensure that token holder identity and eligibility were checked for compliance.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph-magazine.com/big-questions-can-bitcoin-save-you-from-the-cantillon-effect/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Big Questions: Can Bitcoin save you from the dreaded Cantillon Effect?</a>

Tokenization makes finance more efficient but introduces risks: IMF

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