Global Regulators Say Tokenization’s Potential Is Real, but So Are Its Obstacles

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has released its Final Report on the Tokenization of Financial Assets (November 2025), providing the most comprehensive global assessment of how distributed ledger technology is being applied to financial markets. The report finds that tokenization remains in its early stages, with activity concentrated in fixed income products and money market funds. While the technology offers efficiency gains and broader investor access, IOSCO warns that legal uncertainty, interoperability gaps, and operational risks are holding back large-scale adoption. The organization calls on regulators to uphold “same activity, same risk, same regulatory outcome” as tokenization expands into real-world assets such as gold, real estate, and natural resources.