In recent years, "Physical Asset Tokenization" has rapidly gained traction, becoming an important bridge connecting traditional finance and blockchain. Below is a factual analysis based on recent market dynamics and news reports.
The London gold market has launched a digital gold product called "Pooled Gold Interests" (PGIs), which achieves fractional ownership of physical gold through a trust model. The project aims to transform gold from static storage into an asset that can be traded on the blockchain and generate returns, attracting participation from asset managers and banks. Although the traditional market remains cautious, this represents a significant breakthrough in the digitization of the precious metals market.
Chinese large developer New Town Holdings has established a "Digital Asset Research Institute" to explore the tokenization of intellectual property and asset income, planning to issue NFT products related to its Wuyue Plaza by the end of the year. This is a typical case of domestic real estate companies exploring asset on-chain to achieve liquidity breakthroughs.
Global attention to physical asset tokenization has significantly increased. Reports indicate that approximately $185 billion of physical assets have been tokenized to date, covering innovative asset types such as air rights, collectibles, and forestry.
Meanwhile, by the end of 2024, the total scale of RWA (Real-World Assets) tokenized assets is expected to exceed $50 billion, encompassing debt, real estate, and commodities; among these, tokenized real estate projects amount to $24 billion, with approximately $5.4 billion of assets already launched, and the secondary market trading volume has increased by 40% year-on-year.
Institutional perspectives are also highly optimistic about the future: Bain Capital predicts that by 2030, the global market for tokenizable assets will reach $16 trillion; McKinsey estimates that the market potential could even reach $2–4 trillion.
A report from Bank of America reveals that investor interest in the tokenization of physical assets such as real estate, stocks, and bonds has significantly increased; the Dubai Land Department plans to achieve approximately $16 billion in real estate digitization by 2033, promoting the implementation of fractional ownership mechanisms.
Regulatory frameworks are gradually being established in various regions:
The EU's MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) has officially launched, providing a unified regulatory foundation for tokenized securities;
In Asia, regions such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Dubai have introduced sandbox and licensing pathways. Singapore's Project Guardian promotes the digitization of bank deposits, funds, and FX assets, while Hong Kong's SFC has released guidelines for retail funds and VATP (Virtual Asset Trading Platforms); Dubai has provided a licensing mechanism for the RWA market through VARA (Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority).
Despite the strong momentum for asset on-chain, academic research points out that the secondary market liquidity for RWA tokenization remains sluggish, characterized by low trading volumes, long-term holding by owners, and insufficient secondary market activity. This stems from structural issues such as regulatory restrictions, valuation opacity, lack of clearing mechanisms, and concentrated custody.
An increasing number of traditional financial giants and DeFi protocols are participating in RWA practices. A typical example is MakerDAO supporting DAI with government bonds, while financial institutions like BlackRock are laying out tokenized funds, and the crypto space is also promoting compliance technology and trust mechanism development.
Physical asset tokenization is rapidly evolving from concept to practice, spanning multiple fields including gold, real estate, intellectual property, and agriculture. Driven by both market scale and regulatory sandboxes, tokenization is poised to penetrate the mainstream financial system.
However, challenges remain—especially regarding insufficient liquidity, valuation issues, and inconsistent compliance—all of which require collaboration between the industry and regulators to resolve. If multiple forces can be coordinated in the future to achieve deep integration of technology, rule of law, and market, physical asset tokenization may become a new pillar of financial innovation.
Related: Galaxy Digital CEO: AI agents will become the largest users of stablecoins
Original text: “Physical Asset Tokenization: Bridging the Real World and Blockchain”
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