Tokenized capital markets are the issuance and transfer of capital-markets instruments as blockchain tokens: equities, fund shares, treasuries, and related claims. Each instrument stays the thing it was. How much authority the token carries varies by product.
This page maps those instruments, how a tokenized security is put together, and why they are issued on more than one chain. To issue a capital-markets instrument across chains, reach out to our team.
What are tokenized capital markets?
Tokenized capital markets are capital-markets instruments whose ownership or entitlement is recorded as a token. A share stays a share. A fund unit stays a fund unit. A claim on government debt stays that claim.
What changes is the register and the settlement path. Transfers can settle on the chain where the token sits, and the same instrument can be made available on several chains without a new issuance for each one.
RWA interoperability covers real-world claims of every kind, commodities included. This page covers the securities, funds, and related claims. How a tokenized asset moves is covered in cross-chain tokenized assets.
How a tokenized instrument is put together
It has a legal wrapper, a token contract, and a servicing layer.
- The legal wrapper. A fund, a special-purpose vehicle, or a direct issuance. It says what the token entitles the holder to, and under which jurisdiction.
- The token contract. How the token transfers, who may hold it, and which compliance rules run onchain, including allowlists, transfer limits, and pause.
- The servicing layer. Transfer agents, custodians, and administrators handle subscriptions, redemptions, distributions, and reporting. They reconcile against each chain's balances and, where one exists, an official offchain register.
The contract can enforce eligibility on every chain where supply sits. The legal wrapper decides what those rules are. The servicing layer produces the books.
The instruments, side by side
The comparison describes common shapes. A product's offering terms decide the rest.
| Instrument | What the holder owns | Eligibility | How value leaves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tokenized equity | A share or a claim on one | Strict, by jurisdiction and status | Secondary market |
| Tokenized fund share | A unit in a fund | The fund's subscription terms | Fund redemption windows |
| Tokenized treasury | A claim on government debt | Often qualified investors | Issuer terms |
| Tokenized bank deposit | A bank liability | The bank's own customers | Redemption with the bank |
Read the last column as the exit path. An equity exits on a secondary market. A fund share redeems on the fund's schedule against net asset value. A treasury pays under the note or bill terms. A deposit is redeemed with the bank.
A token can move in seconds. Exit still follows the instrument.
An issuer-managed, reserve-backed stablecoin is a different instrument. It is a claim on the issuer's reserves, often redeemable at par, and it is built for payments.
How institutions use them
Institutions hold these instruments for cash management, as collateral, and to distribute funds. A tokenized Treasury or fund share can sit where idle balances are, then move as the issuer's own token when that location changes.
Ondo issued treasury products this way. Centrifuge issued tokenized funds. Dinari issued tokenized US equities.
Why they are issued across several chains
Investors, collateral venues, and settlement counterparties sit on more than one chain. Issuing the instrument on those chains lets a holder post it where they have a position.
A cross-chain token standard keeps each deployment as the issuer's own contract and carries eligibility with the token. A transfer debits one chain and credits another, so outstanding units stay constant. Each deployment has its own state, so the issuer aggregates and reconciles. The OFT standard implements that debit-and-credit rule.
Multichain token distribution places the supply. Corporate actions across chains covers what follows for equities and funds. Multi-chain asset operations is the work after issuance.
FAQ
Are tokenized capital markets the same as RWA tokenization?
Tokenized capital markets are the securities, funds, treasuries, and related claims. RWA tokenization is the broader set, including commodities and other offchain value.
What is the difference between tokenization and securitization?
Securitization pools assets into a new instrument, such as a bond backed by loans. Tokenization changes the form in which an existing instrument is issued and settled. An asset can be securitized, tokenized, both, or neither.
Can tokenized securities trade across different blockchains?
Yes, where the issuer uses a standard that keeps one canonical supply and carries eligibility onto each chain.
How does an issuer know total outstanding across chains?
By aggregating each deployment and accounting for units still in flight. A canonical model keeps the total unchanged when a holder moves, which is what the aggregate is checked against.
Where do stablecoins fit?
Stablecoins are payment instruments. The transfer mechanics overlap with the securities on this page. The claim, the eligibility, and the redemption path stay those of the stablecoin.
Issue a capital-markets instrument across chains
The legal wrapper, the token contract, and the servicing layer each keep their own job. Each deployment is the issuer's own contract. Outstanding units can be aggregated across those deployments.
To scope issuance or a chain expansion, reach out to our team, or start at Developers.