IMF Warns Tokenization’s Growth Depends on Safeguards, Not Just Faster Settlement
The IMF estimates publicly reported tokenized assets at $65 billion, while Morgan Stanley sees a potential $3 trillion to $10 trillion market by 2030. The gap highlights both the opportunity and the infrastructure challenges facing blockchain networks, including Solana.
Tokenization is gaining momentum across credit, money market funds and equities, but the International Monetary Fund says its largest constraints are institutional and structural rather than purely technical. The findings offer a framework for assessing how networks such as Solana could support future onchain capital markets without amplifying liquidity and contagion risks.
The Market Is Growing, but the Base Is Still Small
The IMF’s October 8 Global Financial Stability Report puts publicly reported tokenized assets at approximately $65 billion as of July, excluding stablecoins and repo. Tokenized credit represented $30.4 billion, while money market funds accounted for $17.5 billion. Tokenized equities remained comparatively small at $2.3 billion.
Morgan Stanley’s digital asset strategy chief told The Block that tokenized assets could reach $3 trillion to $10 trillion by 2030, up from roughly $39 billion today. Reaching that range would require growth of about 2.8 to 3.7 times annually, substantially faster than the approximately 1.9-times growth rate recorded so far in 2026.
- Tokenized credit: $30.4 billion
- Tokenized money market funds: $17.5 billion
- Tokenized equities: $2.3 billion
- IMF-reported total, excluding stablecoins and repo: $65 billion
Efficiency Brings New Risks
The IMF found that investors are already using tokenized markets beyond traditional trading hours: more than half of tokenized equity trading occurs outside those hours, and roughly 80% of analyzed trades represent less than one share. However, tokenized equities were about 1.5 times more volatile than their underlying assets, with liquidity divided among platforms and networks that do not interoperate.
The report cautions that traditional settlement delays, messaging and reconciliation may function as a safety buffer. Removing those delays could increase the risk of “fire sales, liquidity runs and contagion” through interconnected markets and leverage. For Solana and other high-throughput networks, the implication is that speed alone will not determine institutional adoption. Collateral rules, margin systems, liquidity safeguards and reliable interoperability will be equally important.
The Record-Keeping Question
The legal status of tokenized assets remains another major issue. A review of the 12 largest tokenized Treasury products found that only Franklin Templeton’s BENJI and iBENJI, worth $2.4 billion combined, describe the blockchain as the official record. Filings for WisdomTree’s WTGXX, JPMorgan’s JLTXX and Circle’s USYC identify offchain registers as the source of truth, while several other products do not disclose the governing record.
What This Means
Tokenization’s next phase will depend on whether blockchain-based assets become legally authoritative, interoperable collateral rather than merely digital mirrors of offchain records. That creates an opening for Solana-based infrastructure, but also raises the standard: institutional users will need transparent ownership rules, deep liquidity and safeguards that match the network’s speed. The projected $3 trillion to $10 trillion opportunity is substantial, yet the IMF’s warning suggests that responsible market design—not throughput alone—will determine how quickly it arrives.