Financial institutions are moving toward an onchain future through tokenization initiatives that provide access to new markets and structural advantages over traditional investment products, according to Matthew Horne, head of digital asset strategists at Fidelity Investments.
Speaking at a panel discussion at Longitude Singapore, Horne stated that institutional adoption has accelerated significantly. "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," he said.
US asset managers face particular incentives to move assets onchain, as tokenization improves investor access and enables them to reach new markets. Demand for tokenized assets rose 41% during the past 30 days, with the number of holders reaching 493,000, according to RWA.xyz data that excludes stablecoins.
Infrastructure Developments Supporting Adoption
Ka Yan Chan, head of digital assets business development at UBS, noted that treasuries and equities could bring billions of dollars onchain as core portfolio components. He emphasized that major moves by infrastructure players like the Federal Reserve or the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) on the custody layer would be transformative for the sector.
In December 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a "no action" letter to a subsidiary of the DTCC, enabling it to offer a securities market tokenization service. In September, the SEC approved a temporary exemption for limited trading of tokenized US stocks on certain onchain venues.
Securitize launched trading of tokenized shares of a dozen widely held US stocks with security entitlements. More than $1.2 billion in capital moved onchain during the past 30 days, bringing the total across stablecoins and tokenized assets to over $323 billion, according to OnchainBenchmark.
