Tokenization is often discussed as a technology trend. Increasingly, however, it is being viewed as something much bigger: a redesign of how money, assets and capital markets function. Three new Deutsche Bank Research Institute reports examine tokenization from three distinct angles: market infrastructure, payments and settlement, and capital flows and geopolitics. Together, they tell a compelling story about how tokenization is evolving from a niche innovation into a potential foundation for the next generation of finance.
Why is tokenization moving from the margins to the mainstream?
Tokenization is increasingly moving beyond crypto experimentation and into mainstream finance. Asset Tokenization 101: The Next Phase of Financial Infrastructure explores how adoption is expanding from Treasury products and money market funds into collateral management, private credit, equities and core market infrastructure.
While tokenized assets remain small relative to traditional markets, securities depositories, exchanges and banks are increasingly exploring how distributed ledger technology can support issuance, settlement and post-trade processes.
“Tokenization will modernize financial infrastructure rather than eliminate intermediaries.”
How could tokenized money transform payments, FX and settlement?
Tokenised money and the future of FX examines a related challenge: how money moves alongside assets. Tokenized money, programmable settlement and atomic transactions could help reduce frictions across payments, foreign exchange and securities settlement, particularly as settlement cycles shorten.
Stablecoins, tokenized deposits and tokenized central bank money are all being explored as potential building blocks, although significant hurdles remain around interoperability, liquidity, legal frameworks and governance.
“Tokenization has the potential to transform the way financial markets operate, from the movement of money and assets to the management of liquidity and risk.”
What does tokenization mean for the future of financial markets?
The implications may extend well beyond market efficiency. Capitalism and the dollar: the AI race, tokenization, and the dollar’s future argues that tokenization is becoming intertwined with a broader competition for capital as countries seek funding for AI infrastructure and strategic industries. Easier access to tokenized assets could help attract global investment, reinforcing the appeal of major capital markets, argues the report, potentially reshaping the relationship between technology, finance and economic power.
“Asset tokenization is not futuristic. It is happening now at the heart of US markets.”
Together, the three reports suggest that tokenization is evolving from a niche innovation into a potential building block of the next generation financial system, with implications not only for markets and payments, but also for capital flows, competitiveness and global economic leadership.