The International Monetary Fund published a note on April 2, 2026, titled Tokenized Finance, laying out how real-world asset tokenization is reshaping finance. The paper says permissioned shared ledgers, programmable assets such as RWAs, and the smart contracts linking them are changing market liquidity, settlement, and risk transmission.
The IMF’s view is mixed. It credits tokenization with enabling atomic settlement, continuous liquidity management, new revenue opportunities, and lower operating costs through automated asset servicing. The note also says tokenized RWAs can be natively compliant with regulation and can lower entry barriers for investors through fractional ownership.
Speed and efficiency can also magnify stress
The warning in the paper is direct. The IMF says limited international coordination on policy could amplify systemic risk and financial instability. It argues that the same transaction speed often promoted as a strength could turn a small disruption into a larger event if safeguards over liquidity flows are missing, opening the door to flash crashes and large liquidations.
The note also points to fragmentation. When each institution builds its own ledger, asset transfers become less efficient, price divergence across assets can widen, and the cost of bridging between ledgers rises. In that structure, efficiency gains do not automatically translate into a smoother market.
CBDCs, code oversight, and interoperable ledgers
To address those issues, the IMF proposes anchoring digital finance in public trust. One option named in the note is the use of central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, as a safer settlement layer. It also calls for stronger code governance, including audits of smart contracts and stress tests for tokenization algorithms.
The paper adds that mandated interoperability across ledgers could reduce arbitrage distortions by helping standardize asset pricing across different blockchains. That would also cut frictions tied to moving assets between isolated systems.
Tokenized asset market estimated at up to $300 billion
On market size, the report cites InvestaX estimates that place the on-chain tokenization sector at $24.9 billion to $36 billion in 2026, excluding stablecoins. Including payment stablecoins, the figure rises to $300 billion. The largest segment within that total is tokenized US Treasuries at $10.8 billion, while the sector is estimated to have grown 66% since the start of the year.
Institutional participation has been a major driver. BlackRock’s BUIDL fund has surpassed $1.7 billion in assets under management. The article also names JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs among traditional financial firms active in the space, with Securitize and Ondo Finance listed as specialized tokenization platforms.
The IMF’s framework has not gone unchallenged. Critics argue that adopting these recommendations would dilute the original meaning of decentralization. That leaves the sector facing a clear tension between permissioned structures focused on safety and decentralized models that carry more volatility.