IMF: The tokenization market is growing rapidly, but interoperability and regulation remain major bottlenecks BlockBeats reported on October 8th that according to an article released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on October 8th, tokenization is expected to bring faster transactions, lower costs, wider market access, and 24/7 financial markets, but currently the relevant market size is still small and highly fragmented. The IMF believes that whether tokenization can truly unleash its potential depends on legal and regulatory clarity, interoperability between different platforms, secure settlement assets, and financial stability guarantee mechanisms. According to IMF data, tokenization activities are currently mainly concentrated in the repurchase agreement (Repo) market, with a daily trading volume of approximately $300 billion to $350 billion; The daily trading volume of other tokenized assets such as credit, money market funds, and stocks is approximately $65 billion. In contrast, the daily trading volume of the traditional Repo market in the United States is about $13 trillion, while the global capital market asset size is about $30 trillion, and the tokenization market is still only a small part of it. The IMF pointed out that the issuance of tokenized assets is mainly concentrated in the United States and a few major offshore jurisdictions, while transactions are dispersed across different platforms, blockchain networks, and settlement systems. The main factors currently limiting the further development of the tokenization market include: investors need to clarify the legal rights represented by tokenized assets; Regulatory agencies need to clarify how existing rules apply to new ledger and market functions; Different platforms need to achieve interoperability, rather than forming fragmented liquidity pools; Meanwhile, settlement requires reliance on secure and widely accepted forms of currency. From the perspective of market usage, tokenization has also demonstrated some characteristics that traditional financial markets do not possess. The IMF stated that over half of tokenized asset transactions occur outside of traditional market trading hours, indicating a demand for round the clock trading in the market; In the tokenized stock trading analyzed, about 80% of the trading volume is less than one share, indicating that fragmented holding has been widely used. However, the IMF also pointed out that there are still issues with insufficient liquidity and high volatility in the tokenization market at present. The fragmentation between multiple networks and trading venues, as well as the lack of unified interoperability mechanisms and settlement assets, limit price discovery and liquidity formation. The IMF also warns that as the tokenization market expands, the efficiency gains it brings may also be accompanied by new financial stability risks, including concentrated selling, liquidity runs, and risk contagion due to market interconnectivity and increased leverage. The current step-by-step trading, delayed settlement, and reconciliation processes in traditional financial markets increase costs and friction, but at the same time provide certain risk buffers, liquidity management, and security mechanisms. The IMF believes that countries should adopt a technology neutral regulatory approach, clarify the legal rights of tokenized assets, and ensure consistent regulation of the same economic activities regardless of the technology used, while promoting interoperability between tokenized platforms and traditional financial systems. As the market size expands, regulatory agencies also need to continuously monitor emerging risks such as interconnectivity, leverage, and liquidity.