What Is Tokenization: BlackRock Is In and Here Is How You Get In

Key Takeaways

• The tokenized RWA market has crossed tens of billions in on-chain value, with BlackRock, JPMorgan, and Franklin Templeton all actively building in the space
• BlackRock’s BUIDL fund has grown to billions in assets and is now approved as derivatives trading collateral, not just a yield product
• US investors can already buy tokenized gold, Treasuries, real estate, and stocks starting at $50, on platforms most people have never heard of

Tokenization is the process of converting ownership rights in a real-world asset into a digital token on a blockchain. Instead of buying an entire apartment building, a gold bar, or a US Treasury bond, you buy a token that represents a fractional claim on it. That token is tied to the real asset through a legal structure off-chain and a smart contract on-chain. The tokenized RWA market has grown from a niche experiment into a multi-billion dollar on-chain market, with BlackRock, JPMorgan, and Franklin Templeton all active in the space. Entry points start at $50 on some platforms. Stock tokenization, RWA tokenization, and tokenized Treasuries are among the fastest-growing categories in crypto right now. Traditional equity markets settle trades in two days. On-chain settlement is near-instant. Here is exactly how it works and how you can get exposure today.

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Best Platforms to Buy Tokenized Real-World Assets in the US Right Now

The platforms available to US investors right now range from major centralized exchanges with institutional-grade infrastructure to non-custodial swap services with no account required. Before getting into where to buy RWA tokens, it helps to understand what tokenization actually produces, which asset classes are leading the market, and what the institutions building this infrastructure are actually working toward. That context makes the platform choice a lot easier.

How Tokenization Works, Step by Step

What is tokenization at a technical level? At its core, it is the process of encoding ownership rights into a smart contract on a blockchain, so that the token itself becomes the ownership record. The underlying asset stays where it is, whether that is a property, a Treasury bill, or a gold bar in a vault.

What changes is how ownership is recorded, transferred, and settled. Instead of relying on paper contracts and intermediaries, the smart contract executes automatically, is publicly verifiable, and settles in seconds.

The process follows a consistent structure regardless of asset class:

Industry analysis shows potential operational cost reductions of up to 30% for institutions running on tokenized infrastructure.

Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson had this to say:

“Bitcoin is the greatest distraction from the biggest opportunity in finance, tokenized assets.”

The Three Asset Classes Driving the Market

RWA tokenization covers a wide range of asset classes, each at a different stage of adoption right now. Three categories are leading the market by volume and institutional presence, and understanding how they differ matters for anyone deciding where to put capital.

Tokenized US Treasuries

The dominant category, consistently accounting for the largest share of total on-chain RWA value. BlackRock’s BUIDL fund has grown to be the benchmark product in this space and has been approved as derivatives trading collateral, meaning it now earns yield while functioning as a live financial instrument simultaneously. BlackRock has also filed with the SEC for additional tokenized fund structures, a clear signal that institutional conviction here is not slowing down.

Tokenized Gold

Tokenized gold has become a genuine hedge instrument, with trading volumes tracking traditional gold markets closely and consistently. PAXG and XAUT dominate the category, with PAXG generating billions in monthly spot volume. The key advantage over physical gold is 24/7 availability. Traditional gold markets are closed on weekends, and tokenized gold trades around the clock, which has repeatedly proven its value during periods of geopolitical stress when investors need immediate safe-haven access.

Stock Tokenization

The fastest-growing subcategory in the entire RWA market. What started as a marginal market cap has expanded rapidly into billions in trading volume on a quarterly basis, driven largely by Kraken’s xStocks platform and Ondo Finance, which now offers more than 100 stock tokenization trading pairs covering everything from technology ETFs to individual equities. The correlation between tokenized equity volumes and traditional market activity has moved decisively higher as the category matures.

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What the Institutions Are Actually Building

The defining shift in recent years is that major financial institutions stopped treating tokenization as a pilot. What is being built right now goes well beyond moving old assets on-chain.

BlackRock has grown its BUIDL fund into the benchmark tokenized Treasury product and secured approval for it to be used as derivatives trading collateral, meaning a single asset now simultaneously earns yield and enables market access. BlackRock has also filed with the SEC for additional tokenized fund structures, signaling this is a long-term infrastructure play, not a one-off product.

Standard Chartered and OKX joined BlackRock in launching a framework allowing qualified investors to use BUIDL as trading collateral, creating what analysts are calling a “yield stack.” Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters stated:

“The majority of transactions will eventually be settled on blockchain.”

JPMorgan rebranded its blockchain platform from Onyx to Kinexys in late 2024, and it has since processed over $1.5 trillion in notional value since launch, averaging more than $2 billion in daily transaction volume. Kinexys handles tokenized repo transactions, cross-border payments, and on-chain FX settlement.

Ondo has executed live cross-border tokenized Treasury redemptions on the XRP Ledger in partnership with JPMorgan, Mastercard, and Ripple, transactions running on production infrastructure, not proof of concept environments.

Institutional Adoption at a Glance

McKinsey projects the RWA market could reach $2 to $4 trillion by 2030, and the BCG and Ripple joint report puts that figure at $18.9 trillion by 2033.

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Where US Investors Can Buy RWA Tokens Right Now

Beyond the platform comparison table above, there is a second route into this market worth knowing about. Direct tokenized products give the purest exposure to RWA tokenization but come with more setup friction than simply buying a token on an exchange.

RealT offers fractional US rental property ownership from $50 per share, with rental income distributed on-chain automatically to token holders. Ondo Finance’s USDY offers yield backed by US Treasuries at low minimums, making it one of the more accessible entry points into tokenized fixed income. Both require KYC verification, and some products remain restricted to accredited investors depending on jurisdiction.

For most retail investors, the lower-friction option is to buy RWA tokens directly on exchanges. The core tokens to know by category are:

The barrier to entry here is lower than most people expect. Trading any of these tokens is functionally identical to buying any other crypto asset on a major exchange.

The Risks Every Investor Needs to Understand

The most critical and least visible risk in RWA tokenization is legal structure risk. A flawed legal wrapper may leave token holders with no enforceable claim against an issuer in the event of default or insolvency, and that is the first thing to verify before investing in any tokenized product.

Oracle risk is also real. RWA tokens depend on off-chain price feeds being brought on-chain accurately, and a failure in that process can cause a token’s price to decouple from the asset it represents. Smart contract vulnerabilities are another concern given the concentration of value now flowing into these contracts. On the regulatory side, the GENIUS Act created a federal framework for payment stablecoins, and the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act created a safe harbor for tokenized securities experimentation in the US. But classification of tokenized equities under US securities law is still being defined, which creates ongoing uncertainty around product availability and tax treatment. Pricing gaps have also been documented for identical assets across different blockchains, adding friction for investors managing multi-chain exposure.

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The Bigger Picture

The number of wallets created specifically to hold tokenized assets has grown sharply after years of flat activity. For this new cohort of on-chain participants, RWA tokenization is the reason to come on-chain, not speculative crypto. Add stablecoins, the oldest and largest category of tokenized RWA, and the broader market already runs into the hundreds of billions. The Bank for International Settlements has projected that 10% of global GDP could be tokenized by 2034. The institutions are in, the entry points are lower than most people expect, and the market is already live.

FAQ

1. What is the difference between tokenization and a stablecoin?

Stablecoins are technically tokenized dollars and the largest RWA category by volume. Broader tokenization extends that logic to yield-bearing assets, gold, equities, and real estate, most of which carry an explicit return component unlike a dollar peg.

2. Is RWA tokenization legal in the US?

Yes. The GENIUS Act and the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act have created federal frameworks supporting it, though some products remain restricted to accredited investors and securities classification for tokenized equities is still being finalized.

3. What is the minimum amount needed to invest in tokenized assets?

It depends on the platform. RealT starts at $50 per share. Exchange-traded tokens like PAXG or ONDO have no meaningful minimum beyond a single trade on any major platform.