Catenaa, Saturday, October 04, 2025- Tokenized funds are gaining traction faster than early exchange-traded funds, according to a new report from Standard Chartered-backed Libeara.
The study highlights the rise of programmable, composable assets that settle instantly on blockchain networks.
Unlike traditional financial infrastructure, tokenized assets can be transferred, swapped, or used in smart contracts in real-time.
This functionality enables atomic swaps between tokenized Treasuries and stablecoins or the use of tokenized loans as collateral in decentralized finance systems.
Libeara traces the evolution of tokenization through three phases. Bitcoin introduced digital scarcity but remained volatile. Ethereum’s smart contracts enabled programmable finance but initially relied on crypto-native collateral.
Since 2020, stablecoins and real-world assets have extended programmable finance into Treasuries, money market funds, and private credit, supporting institutional adoption.
The report notes that while tokenized Treasuries currently represent only a few billion dollars, their growth mirrors the early trajectory of ETFs.
Factors driving adoption include rising interest rates, stablecoin adoption, institutional experiments by Franklin Templeton and BlackRock, improved blockchain scalability, and emerging regulatory clarity.
Institutional case studies highlight credibility: Franklin Templeton’s OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund launched in 2018, BlackRock’s 2024 BUIDL fund attracted $500 million in months, and Fidelity, WisdomTree, and Janus Henderson have issued tokenized Treasury products.
Global ratings agencies such as S&P and Moody’s are now evaluating tokenized funds, with some receiving investment-grade classifications.
Libeara said this institutional momentum positions tokenized funds to potentially exceed the growth path of traditional ETFs, connecting capital markets directly to blockchain infrastructure.
