Fidelity Executive Says There Is ‘No Going Back’ for Institutions Adopting Tokenization

institutions adopting tokenization — Fidelity’s digital assets strategist states financial institutions are now irreversibly committed to moving assets onchain, a shift he says offers structural advantages and access to new markets.

Speaking at the Longitude Singapore conference, Fidelity’s head of digital asset strategists, Matthew Horne, described a profound institutional shift. “In the last 18 months, if you look at the push by true institutions to move toward an onchain future, it’s really no going back,” he said during a panel discussion. Horne explained that tokenization provides better investor access and helps asset managers reach new markets.

The momentum was quantified by UBS’s head of digital assets business development, Ka Yan Chan, who noted that tokenizing core assets like treasuries and equities could bring billions of dollars onchain. She stated that a true transformation to the “trillions” would occur when major market infrastructure entities like the Federal Reserve or the DTCC upgrade their custody layers to tokenized platforms.

Recent data shows significant growth in the sector. According to RWA.xyz, the number of holders of tokenized real-world assets (excluding stablecoins) has surpassed 493,000, with demand rising 41% over the past 30 days. A broader OnchainBenchmark metric shows over $1.2 billion in capital moved onchain in the last month, bringing the total for stablecoins and tokenized assets above $323 billion.