The financial world is undergoing a fundamental shift. A new report by Ripple, the provider of digital asset infrastructure for financial institutions, and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) projects the market for tokenized real-world assets to grow from “$0.6 trillion today to $18.9 trillion by 2033 ($9.4 trillion by 2030), with a CAGR of 53 percent.”
Tibor Merey, Managing Director and Partner at BCG explains:
“Tokenization is transforming financial assets into programmable, interoperable tools, recorded on shared digital ledgers. This enables 24/7 transactions, fractional ownership, and automated compliance.”
The report outlines a “three-phase” evolution:
- Phase 1: Low-Risk Adoption – Institutions tokenize familiar instruments like money market funds and bonds.
- Phase 2: Institutional Expansion – Scaling into complex assets such as private credit and real estate.
- Phase 3: Market Transformation – Tokenization becomes embedded in financial and non-financial products.
Early adopters like BlackRock, Fidelity, and JPMorgan are now reportedly operational.
Markus Infanger, SVP of RippleX said:
“The market is transitioning from tokenized assets simply sitting on-chain to integrating into real economic activity.”
Key growth enablers:
- Regulatory clarity in markets like the EU, UAE, Switzerland largely established and also expected soon in the US.
- Mature tech infrastructure including wallets and custody platforms.
Strategic investments by banks and fintech M&A. - A “flywheel effect” is driving adoption, where institutional supply and investor demand reinforce each other.
Challenges like infrastructure fragmentation and regulatory divergence persist, but collaborative “efforts on standards and infrastructure are helping to overcome them.”
According to a blog post by Ripple, the message is clear: institutions must move beyond pilots. This is a good point because over the past few years, most of the announcements have been about pilots or testing some new type of technology. It would be better if many of these initiatives are launched in a real-world environment so that businesses and other organizations can benefit from these technological advancements.
As Bernhard Kronfellner, Partner & Associate Director at BCG, puts it:
“Tokenization is no longer just a concept—it’s the foundation for the future of global finance.”
