Equity Tokenisation Goes Mainstream: Global Launches, Partnerships, and the Future of Finance
Updated: 6 days ago
Tokenised equity is moving from experiment to infrastructure
Tokenised equity is moving from experiment to infrastructure
Tokenisation is no longer limited to conference demonstrations. Banks, asset managers, exchanges and regulators are now putting live products and settlement systems into production. Currently, the most activity today concerns tokenised funds, bonds, deposits and private-market assets, not ordinary public-company shares trading freely on a blockchain.
Tokenised financial infrastructure showing funds, bonds, deposits and private assets connected by blockchain technology in a London financial district.
The clearest live evidence
BlackRock and BUIDL
BlackRock launched the USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, known as BUIDL, in March 2024 on Ethereum. The fund invests in cash, US Treasury bills and repurchase agreements, while its shares are represented by blockchain tokens. Investors can transfer the tokens to approved investors, and the fund is designed to provide daily yield and on-chain settlement. BUIDL was significant because it came from the world’s largest asset manager and used an existing regulated fund structure rather than creating an entirely new security.
Franklin Templeton and BENJI
Franklin Templeton’s Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund, whose BENJI shares are recorded on a public blockchain, is another major example. The product began on Stellar and later expanded to Polygon and other networks. Its importance is practical: the blockchain record is connected to a regulated money-market fund, and investors can see transaction and ownership information on-chain. It demonstrates how fund administration and distribution can be redesigned without removing securities-law protections.
JPMorgan’s Kinexys
JPMorgan has built institutional infrastructure through Kinexys, formerly known as Onyx. Its work includes tokenised deposits, programmable payments and delivery-versus-payment experiments. The value proposition is not simply faster transfers. A payment can be linked to a trade, collateral movement or corporate action, allowing financial institutions to automate steps that currently depend on reconciliation between separate systems.
Exchanges and regulators are testing the market structure
SIX Digital Exchange
Switzerland’s SIX Digital Exchange received regulatory approval to operate a regulated digital securities market infrastructure. The platform is designed for digitally native bonds and other securities, with issuance, trading and settlement handled through regulated infrastructure. This matters because it addresses the difficult part of tokenisation: not creating a token, but giving it legally recognised ownership, final settlement and operational controls.
Hong Kong’s Project Ensemble
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority launched Project Ensemble in 2024 to explore wholesale central-bank digital money for settling tokenised real-world assets. The project focuses on interoperability between tokenised deposits, digital money and asset markets. Hong Kong has also supported live tokenised green bonds, showing how public-sector issuance can act as a test case for the technology.
Singapore and the Monetary Authority of Singapore
Singapore’s Project Guardian has brought banks and market institutions together to test tokenised funds, foreign exchange, bonds and structured products. The key development is the move from isolated pilots toward common settlement standards, legal analysis and commercial use cases. Singapore’s approach also highlights a constraint: a tokenised asset is only useful at scale if banks, custodians, exchanges and investors can connect their systems.
What the numbers do and do not prove
Industry forecasts often put the potential value of tokenised assets in the multi-trillion-dollar range over the next decade. Those forecasts are scenarios, not measurements of current adoption. The stronger evidence is narrower but more credible: regulated funds have attracted real assets, banks have run production payment rails, and exchanges have obtained permission to operate digital securities infrastructure.
Public-equity tokenisation remains more complicated. A token that tracks the price of a listed share is not necessarily the same as a legally transferable share with voting rights, dividend rights and direct ownership in the issuer’s register. The legal wrapper, custody model, investor eligibility, corporate actions and trading venue all matter.
Why partnerships matter more than announcements
The most important partnerships connect several layers: an issuer or asset manager, a regulated custodian, a blockchain or settlement network, a transfer agent, and a distribution platform. For example, a successful tokenised fund needs compliant onboarding, identity checks, wallet controls, valuation, redemptions, reporting and recovery procedures. A blockchain alone does not solve those requirements.
This is why the market is developing through consortiums and infrastructure partnerships. Banks bring balance sheets and regulated client relationships. Asset managers bring products. Exchanges and market infrastructures bring trading and settlement controls. Technology providers bring programmability and interoperability. None of these parts is sufficient on its own.
The next milestones to watch
Whether tokenised funds attract sustained assets rather than short-term pilot capital.
Whether secondary trading becomes liquid enough for investors to exit without bespoke bilateral transactions.
Whether tokenised deposits and wholesale digital money connect across banks and jurisdictions.
Whether regulators clarify the treatment of custody, insolvency, settlement finality and investor protection.
Whether public companies issue legally native digital shares, rather than instruments that only mirror share prices.
Conclusion
Tokenisation is becoming credible because regulated institutions are attaching it to real products and real settlement processes. BlackRock’s BUIDL and Franklin Templeton’s BENJI show the fund use case. JPMorgan’s Kinexys shows how programmable money can connect payments to financial transactions. SIX Digital Exchange, Hong Kong’s Project Ensemble and Singapore’s Project Guardian show that market infrastructure and regulation are developing alongside the technology.
The evidence supports a measured conclusion: tokenisation is moving into production, but the first large markets are likely to be funds, bonds, deposits and private assets. The claim that ordinary public-company equity has already moved wholesale onto blockchains is much stronger than the evidence currently allows.
Sources
BlackRock, “BUIDL: The BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund.” Franklin Templeton, “Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund.” JPMorgan, “Kinexys.” SIX, “SIX Digital Exchange.” Hong Kong Monetary Authority, “Project Ensemble.” Monetary Authority of Singapore, “Project Guardian.”
What it means for UK founders
The examples above are mostly American, Swiss and Asian, but the UK now has its own routes for founders and their investors to test digital and secondary trading of securities.
The most relevant for private company equity is PISCES, the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System. The FCA published its final rules in Policy Statement PS25/6 and opened the PISCES Sandbox on 10 June 2025. It allows intermittent trading of private company shares through approved platforms, and the sandbox runs until June 2030. For founders, it offers a possible structured route for employees and early investors to sell shares before an exit, with the company setting when trading windows open.
For market infrastructure, the Bank of England and the FCA opened the Digital Securities Sandbox to applications in September 2024, allowing firms to test issuance, trading and settlement of digital securities. For funds, the FCA's Policy Statement PS26/7, published on 30 April 2026, set out guidance for tokenised authorised funds and a new direct-to-fund dealing model.
None of these makes a startup's shares a token by default. Each has eligibility rules and approval steps, and founders considering any of them may want to take professional advice on company law, shareholder agreements and FCA permissions before committing.
Key facts at a glance
BlackRock launched BUIDL on Ethereum in March 2024.
The UK Digital Securities Sandbox opened to applications in September 2024.
The PISCES Sandbox for private company share trading opened on 10 June 2025 and runs until June 2030.
PISCES platform operators need a PISCES approval notice from the FCA.
FCA guidance on tokenised authorised funds took effect on 30 April 2026.
Further reading
Frequently asked questions
What is BlackRock's BUIDL tokenised fund?
BUIDL is the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, launched in March 2024 on Ethereum. It invests in cash, US Treasury bills and repurchase agreements, and its shares are represented by blockchain tokens that can be transferred to approved investors.
What is Franklin Templeton's BENJI?
BENJI shares belong to the Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund and are recorded on a public blockchain. The product began on Stellar and later expanded to Polygon and other networks, linking the on-chain record to a regulated money-market fund.
Are public company shares already widely tokenised?
Not yet. Most live tokenisation activity concerns funds, bonds, deposits and private-market assets. A token that tracks the price of a listed share is not necessarily a legally transferable share with voting rights, dividend rights and direct ownership in the issuer's register.
What is Hong Kong's Project Ensemble?
Project Ensemble was launched by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in 2024 to explore wholesale central-bank digital money for settling tokenised real-world assets. It focuses on interoperability between tokenised deposits, digital money and asset markets.
What is Singapore's Project Guardian?
Project Guardian brings banks and market institutions together to test tokenised funds, foreign exchange, bonds and structured products. Its key development is the move from isolated pilots towards common settlement standards, legal analysis and commercial use cases.
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