The Future of Startups in 2026: Navigating Real World Assets and Security Tokenisation
Updated: Oct 7
Startups face a rapidly changing financial landscape in 2026. New technologies and regulatory frameworks are reshaping how early-stage businesses raise capital and manage assets. Among these changes, at a time when the flow of capital appears to be tightening for non-AI startups, Real World Assets (RWA) and security tokenisation stand out as powerful tools that can unlock new opportunities. Understanding how these concepts connect and differ is essential for founders aiming to build resilient, scalable startups.
What Are Real World Assets and Security Tokenisation?
Real World Assets refer to physical or tangible assets such as real estate, machinery, commodities, or even intellectual property. These assets have intrinsic value and can be used as collateral or investment vehicles. Traditionally, startups have had limited access to these assets due to high costs, illiquidity, and complex ownership structures.
Security tokenisation is the process of converting ownership rights of an asset into digital tokens on a blockchain. These tokens represent shares, bonds, or other securities and can be traded more easily than traditional assets. Tokenisation brings transparency, fractional ownership, and faster transactions to markets that were once slow and opaque.
How Startups Benefit from the Intersection of RWA and Security Tokenisation
Startups often struggle with funding and asset management. The convergence of RWA and security tokenisation offers solutions by:
Lowering barriers to investment: Tokenisation allows startups to fractionalise ownership of real world assets, making it easier for smaller investors to participate.
Increasing liquidity: Tokens can be traded on digital exchanges, providing startups and investors with more flexible exit options.
Improving transparency: Blockchain records create immutable ownership histories, reducing fraud and disputes.
Accessing new capital sources: Startups can tap into global investors who prefer digital assets over traditional securities.
For example, a startup owning commercial real estate can tokenise the property, selling tokens to investors worldwide. This approach raises capital without giving up full ownership or relying solely on bank loans.
Where the Ecosystems Overlap and Differ
The ecosystems of Real World Assets, security tokenisation, and startups overlap in several ways but also have distinct characteristics.
Aspect | Real World Assets | Security Tokenisation | Startups |
Core Focus | Physical or tangible asset ownership | Digital representation of ownership | Fundraising, business growth and innovation |
Liquidity | Generally low, illiquid | High liquidity through token trading | Depends on funding and market access |
Regulatory Environment | Traditional asset laws and compliance | Emerging regulations for digital 'crypto' assets | Startup-specific securities laws |
Investor Access | Limited to accredited or institutional | Broader, including retail investors | Varies by stage and funding round |
Use Cases | Collateral, investment, asset management | Fundraising, fractional ownership | Product development, scaling |
The overlap happens when startups use tokenisation to unlock the value of real world assets. This creates a hybrid model where physical assets gain digital liquidity, and startups gain new funding pathways.
Why This Convergence Matters for Early-Stage Businesses
The merging of these ecosystems changes the startup funding landscape in several important ways:
Democratising investment: Early-stage startups can attract a wider pool of investors by offering tokenised shares backed by real assets.
Reducing reliance on traditional funding: Instead of depending solely on venture capital or bank loans, startups have the potential to raise funds through token sales linked to tangible assets.
Enhancing credibility: Tokenised real world assets provide a clear value base, which can increase investor confidence compared to intangible startup valuations.
Enabling innovative business models: Startups are able to create new products or services around tokenised assets, such as fractional ownership platforms, community participation, or asset-backed lending.
For example, a startup developing renewable energy technology might tokenise its solar farms, allowing investors to buy tokens representing a share of the energy output revenue. This model aligns investor interests with the start-up's success and provides ongoing funding.
Or imagine that a startup with a product that aids the quality of life for dementia sufferers and their families, may provide a compelling investment opportunity for a community of aligned stakeholders with a vested interest, and who might benefit from, exactly this type of solution.
Practical Steps for Startups to Leverage This Trend
Founders interested in using real world assets and security tokenisation should consider the following steps:
Identify suitable assets: As well as your share equity, determine which other assets your startup owns or can acquire, have clear value and legal ownership. For example, the tokenisation of Intellectual Property (IP) is a growing sector.
Understand regulations: Consult legal experts to navigate securities laws and compliance requirements related to tokenisation.
Choose the right platform: Select blockchain platforms that support security tokens and have established investor networks.
Educate investors: Provide clear information about how tokenisation works, the risks involved, and the benefits of investing in tokenised assets.
Plan for liquidity: Develop strategies for secondary trading of tokens to ensure investors can exit when needed.
Startups that successfully combine these elements can create more resilient funding models and attract diverse investors.
Looking Ahead
Indicators are that by the end of 2026, the integration of real world assets and security tokenisation will have become a standard and certainly more understood part of the startup ecosystem. Founders who understand and adopt these tools early will gain a competitive edge. They'll have the potential to access new capital sources, improve asset management, and build stronger relationships with their investors.
The UK rules that shape tokenisation in 2026
In the UK, tokenisation is being brought into regulated markets through a set of sandboxes and rule changes rather than a single new law. Three matter most for founders.
The Digital Securities Sandbox, run by the Bank of England and the FCA, opened on 30 September 2024. It lets firms test the infrastructure of tokenised markets, either as a digital securities depositary that records and settles securities, as a trading venue, or as both. It is expected to operate until December 2028, with applications expected to close in March 2027, and it covers non-derivative securities such as shares and bonds.
PISCES, the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System, came into force on 5 June 2025 and can run until 5 June 2030. It allows shares in private companies to trade during intermittent, time-limited events on FCA-approved platforms. UK companies and overseas companies without a public listing can take part, and buyers are limited to certain sophisticated and high net worth investors and to employees, directors and other qualifying individuals.
For funds, the FCA published Policy Statement PS26/7 on 30 April 2026. It sets out how authorised fund managers can use distributed ledger technology, adds guidance for keeping the unitholder register on a ledger and introduces an optional Direct to Fund dealing model. The rules took effect on publication.
What it means for UK founders
Most founders will not apply to these regimes directly. The Digital Securities Sandbox is for market infrastructure firms, and the fund rules are for fund managers. What they decide is the plumbing a startup would later connect to: who can hold a tokenised register, which venues can trade tokenised shares and how settlement works. PISCES is the exception, because a private company can choose to run a trading event for its own shares. HM Treasury has said employees holding EMI or CSOP options can exercise them on PISCES without losing the schemes' tax advantages, and the government has committed to exempting PISCES trades from stamp duty and stamp duty reserve tax.
For a founder thinking about tokenised equity or tokenised assets, the practical first step is to work out which of these regimes, if any, the plan depends on. Founders may want to take professional advice on that before choosing a platform.
Key facts at a glance
Digital Securities Sandbox: opened 30 September 2024, expected to run until December 2028.
PISCES: in force from 5 June 2025, sandbox can run until 5 June 2030.
FCA fund tokenisation rules (PS26/7): published and in effect from 30 April 2026.
The UK's first digital gilt, DIGIT, is expected through the Digital Securities Sandbox in early 2027.
Global market size: Token Terminal data cited in July 2026 put tokenised real world assets above 43 billion dollars, of which tokenised stocks were about 1.6 billion dollars.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
What are real world assets (RWA)?
Real world assets are physical or tangible assets such as real estate, machinery, commodities or intellectual property. They have intrinsic value and can be used as collateral or investment vehicles, but startups have traditionally had limited access to them because of high costs, illiquidity and complex ownership structures.
What is security tokenisation?
Security tokenisation is the process of converting ownership rights of an asset into digital tokens on a blockchain. The tokens represent shares, bonds or other securities and bring transparency, fractional ownership and faster transactions.
How can startups benefit from tokenising real world assets?
Tokenising real world assets can lower barriers to investment through fractional ownership, increase liquidity, improve transparency and open access to global investors. For example, a startup owning commercial real estate could tokenise the property to raise capital without giving up full ownership or relying solely on bank loans.
What steps should a startup take before using security tokenisation?
The suggested steps are to identify assets with clear value and legal ownership, understand securities laws with help from legal experts, choose a blockchain platform that supports security tokens, educate investors about the risks and benefits, and plan for secondary trading so investors can exit when needed.
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