Uses

How securities and real-world assets are tokenised today

Tokenisation records ownership of a security or asset on a blockchain-based register. A holder’s rights still come from the instrument’s terms and the law. What the register changes is how quickly those rights are issued, transferred and serviced.

Where it is being used

Issuers, fund managers and governments are using digital securities across these instrument types.

  • Equity

    Private company shares

    Ordinary and preference shares in unlisted companies, recorded on a register that updates when a transfer settles.

    • Raise capital from more investors in smaller parcels
    • Keep the share register and cap table current without manual reconciliation
    • Give shareholders a way to sell, subject to the company’s transfer rules
  • Debt

    Corporate bonds and notes

    Fixed and floating rate notes issued in smaller denominations, with interest and principal paid according to the terms.

    • Issue in days rather than weeks
    • Pay coupons to the holders recorded on the register at each record date
    • Lower the minimum holding for eligible investors
  • Fund units

    Managed funds and unit trusts

    Units in cash, bond and private markets funds, held and transferred like any other registered interest.

    • Process applications and redemptions faster
    • Use fund units as collateral where the terms allow
    • Give fund administrators a single, current unit register
  • Property

    Property

    Units in a trust, or shares in a company, that owns a building, so investors can hold a share of commercial, industrial or residential property.

    • Hold property exposure from a smaller amount
    • Pay rental income distributions to holders on the register
    • Transfer units between eligible investors without restructuring the syndicate
  • Debt

    Private credit and trade finance

    Notes backed by loans, invoices or trade receivables, where investors fund a pool and are repaid as borrowers pay.

    • Fund working capital for businesses
    • Report on the underlying pool to holders in more detail and more often
    • Settle funding and repayments faster
  • Projects

    Infrastructure and energy

    Equity or debt in renewable energy, storage and other infrastructure projects that pay income over long periods.

    • Raise project capital from a wider group of investors
    • Pay income from project revenue to the register
    • Track the use of proceeds for green and sustainability-linked bonds
  • Certificates

    Environmental certificates

    Carbon credits and renewable energy certificates linked to a registry entry, so ownership and retirement can be tracked.

    • Show where a certificate came from and who has held it
    • Record retirement so a certificate can’t be used twice
    • Package certificates into instruments that investors can hold

What changes, and what doesn’t

What changes

Settlement
Transfers can settle in minutes, with payment and ownership changing at the same time.
A live register
The issuer, its registry and each holder see the same current record.
Smaller units
Securities can be issued and held in smaller parcels where the terms allow.
Automated servicing
Dividends, coupons and distributions can be paid to the holders recorded on the register at the record date.
Built-in eligibility
Transfer rules can check that a buyer is verified and eligible before a transfer is recorded.

What doesn’t change

The legal instrument
A tokenised share is still a share, and a tokenised note is still a note. Its terms set out the holder’s rights.
Regulation
Offers still need the right licence, disclosure documents and investor eligibility checks.
Investment risk
The issuer’s business, the asset’s value and its liquidity carry the same risks as before.
Investor identity
Holders are verified, and the register records who they are.

Precedents

Central banks, regulators and large issuers have already issued or tested digital securities.

  • 2024–25Project Acacia, Australia. The Reserve Bank of Australia and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre tested how wholesale tokenised assets could be settled. ASIC relief allowed some pilots to use real money.
  • 2022–Project Guardian, Singapore. The Monetary Authority of Singapore and financial institutions have tested tokenised bonds, funds and foreign exchange.
  • 2023–24Hong Kong Government green bonds. The Hong Kong Government issued tokenised green bonds to institutional investors.
  • 2021–European Investment Bank digital bonds. The EIB has issued bonds recorded on blockchain registers.
  • 2021–Tokenised money market funds. Global fund managers, including Franklin Templeton and BlackRock, offer fund units recorded on public blockchains.