Crypto for Advisors: Tokenization Trends

CoinDesk Indices Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Crypto for Advisors: Tokenization Trends Tokenized Money Market Funds were the breakout asset in 2025. Institutional adoption, regulatory shifts, and new cash rails point to 2026 as the year of acceleration. By Harvey Li | Edited by Sarah Morton Dec 11, 2025, 4:00 p.m. (Philip Oroni/ Unsplash) What to know : You’re reading Crypto for Advisors , CoinDesk’s weekly newsletter that unpacks digital assets for financial advisors. Subscribe here to get it every Thursday. In today’s "Crypto for Advisors" newsletter, Harvey Li from Tokenization Insights takes us through tokenization trends, money market funds, and institutional adoption as we head into 2026. Then, in "Ask an Expert," Michael Sena looks at what it means for investors with BlackRock’s announced plans to tokenize everything from exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to real estate. STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the Crypto Long & Short Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . - Sarah Morton Tokenization's Breakout Asset Class: Tokenized Money Market Funds Tokenization entered a new phase in 2025. What started as an experiment is now becoming a functional part of institutional infrastructure, led by banks and asset managers who aren’t waiting for a tokenized future — they’re building it. One specific product category has emerged as the clear front-runner: tokenized money market funds (MMFs). Tokenized MMFs are quickly becoming the core on-chain liquidity instrument for institutions, treasurers, and sophisticated funds. They bridge traditional short-term U.S. Treasury exposure with digital settlement, programmable workflows, and real-time portability. Growth is real: Assets under management (AUM) grew from $4 billion at the start of 2025 to $8.6 billion by November, up 110% (RWA.xyz) Tokenized MMFs now represent ~3% of the stablecoin market compared to 2% at the start of the year And institutions are incorporating tokenized MMF into businesses: JPMorgan went live with intraday repo capabilities using tokenized collateral powered by HQLAx and Ownera BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund is being accepted by both OKX and Binance as eligible collateral Lloyds Banking Group and Aberdeen Investments completed FX derivative trades using a tokenized money market fund Momentum is building, but the real story is what comes next in 2026. What’s driving the acceleration? Key 2026 catalysts 1. Regulatory validation and collateral eligibility The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC)Global Markets Advisory Committee recommended tokenized MMFs as eligible collateral, and Acting Chair Caroline Pham launched a dedicated initiative in late 2025 to advance tokenized collateral adoption. If tokenized MMFs become approved as eligible margin collateral, recognized for cleared derivatives, swaps, and repo and embedded into CCP and FCM rulebooks, then tokenized MMFs evolve from a cash-parking tool into core institutional collateral, the same category that fuels trillions in daily financing today. This is a major unlock for banks, brokers, hedge funds, and trading venues that need intraday settlement and programmable liquidity. 2. The “institutional legitimacy” moment Seventy institutions, including State Street, Fnality, Franklin Templeton, and UBS, contributed to Global Digital Finance’s November 2025 report and demonstrated that tokenized MMFs can be: Moved and pledged in real time across multiple ledgers Supported under existing regulatory frameworks Legally enforceable and operationally sound 3. The rise of tokenized cash rails at major banks Until recently, tokenized MMFs could only be redeemed via traditional banking rails or stablecoins. That is changing quickly. In 2025, we saw: JPMorgan tokenized deposit and deposit tokens on private and public chains Citi Token Services expanded U.S.D and EUR tokenized deposits and 24/7 treasury flows HSBC and DBS are activating tokenized deposit infrastructure in Asia and Europe As tokenized cash rails mature, institutions will be able to move tokenized MMF to tokenized deposit and settlement cash within the same ecosystem, with no friction and no conversion back to legacy payment rails or stablecoins. That is the moment when tokenized MMFs stop being a crypto-adjacent product and become digital liquidity management blocks for institutions. 4. Regulatory momentum for U.S.D and EUR stablecoins While tokenized institutional cash rails are rapidly expanding, stablecoin policy and legislation are helping stablecoins become the default cash rail for public permissionless space: In the U.S., GENIUS Act legislation and related frameworks are pushing U.S.D stablecoins into a defined supervisory perimeter In the EU, MiCA delivers a full regulatory regime for e-money tokens and asset-referenced tokens Once these frameworks settle and SMEs become more comfortable with leveraging stablecoins for cash purposes, tokenized money market funds naturally become the yield, collateral, treasury, and portfolio cash solution. The bottom line The direction of travel is clear. Cash that used to sit in bank accounts or legacy MMF portals is now being re-packaged into programmable instruments that plug directly into digital asset rails, and tokenized money market funds are becoming the cash management and collateral solution for all tokenized cash forms: tokenized bank deposits, deposit tokens and stablecoins. 2025 was the breakout year for tokenized money market funds as an asset class.2026 looks to be the acceleration phase, when tokenized MMFs become a standard treasury, settlement, and collateral asset for institutions. - Harvey Li, founder, Tokenization Insight Ask an Expert Q: Traditionally, U.S. ETFs follow Wall Street’s market hours and settle through their clearing houses. What are the benefits and hurdles BlackRock’s investors will face in terms of round-the-clock trading? A: 24/7 trading will change everything from staffing to risk management. When markets never close, it changes the way you need to operate. The benefits of real-time markets means that those who can react first will be able to capture the bulk of moves in asset prices. Q: The tokenized asset market is still insignificant compared to the trillion-dollar U.S. ETF industry. How will BlackRock’s participation contribute to the tokenization ecosystem? A: BlackRock’s massive asset portfolio will instantly increase the overall value represented by the tokenized ecosystem. More than that, it brings credibility to all types of blockchain-based assets beyond just Bitcoin and Ethereum. Q: BlackRock’s CEO, Larry Fink, has been bullish on asset tokenization and wants to tokenize almost every traditional asset. Is tokenization a move to extend better services to investors or maintain its hegemony as the largest asset manager? A: BlackRock clearly sees the future of tokenized assets and all the benefits they bring: reduced operational overhead, increased efficiency, and more trust. Most of a large asset manager’s business isn’t in front-facing markets, but is in clearing, settlement, and other types of back and middle office operations. Blockchain streamlines those processes and enables someone like BlackRock to increase their profit margin - Michael Sena, chief marketing officer, Recall Labs Keep Reading Spot bitcoin and ether crypto trading to launch in first half of 2026 within the Charles Schwab platform . UAE National Security’s Mohammed Al Shamsi says, “bitcoin has become the key pillar in the future of financing .” The Commodity Futures Trading Commissions approves the use of BTC, ETH and USDC for leveraged trading. Tokenization Institutional Investment CoinDesk Indices Crypto for Advisors More For You Protocol Research: GoPlus Security By CoinDesk Research Nov 14, 2025 Commissioned by GoPlus What to know : As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M. GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month. Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B. View Full Report More For You CoinDesk 20 Performance Update: Bitcoin (BTC) Drops 3.6% as Index Trades Lower By CoinDesk Indices 1 hour ago Bitcoin Cash (BCH), down 2.8%, also traded lower. 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