The Rise of Tokenization: Deciphering New Trends in Payments and Asset Tokenization
IMF Notes, July 2, 2026
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Bibliographic details
- Authors: Tobias Adrian, Yaiza Cabedo, Tommaso Mancini-Griffoli
- Published: July 2, 2026
- Series: IMF Notes
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798229049054.068
Overview
- Tokenization involves issuing assets, recording ownership, and transacting on a blockchain.
- While simple in concept, tokenization has complex implications for market structure, risk management, inclusion, and public policy.
- Policymakers face rapid technological change and experimentation and need to distinguish durable trends from temporary developments.
- This Note identifies emerging issues most relevant for policy without prescribing specific choices.
- The Note focuses on infrastructure and asset-layer developments, while noting how services are evolving in response.
Three-layer framework (organizing structure)
- Infrastructure layer:
- Covers the rails and rules for settlement.
- Asset layer:
- Includes tokenized money and financial assets such as stablecoins, deposits, CBDCs, securities, and money market funds.
- Services layer:
- Includes wallets, exchanges, and related applications.
- This paper is organized around the three-layer framework and concentrates on infrastructure and asset-layer developments.
Emerging issues and policy-relevant themes
- Market structure:
- Tokenization can alter market structure through new settlement rails and record-keeping approaches.
- Risk management:
- Tokenized assets raise new risk management considerations for regulators and market participants.
- Inclusion:
- Tokenization may affect financial inclusion, with implications for access and participation.
- Public policy:
- Policymakers must assess durable technological and market changes versus temporary experimentation.
- Interplay across layers:
- Developments in infrastructure and assets influence how services (wallets, exchanges, applications) evolve.
Key takeaways for policymakers
- Focus on distinguishing durable trends from temporary developments amid rapid experimentation.
- Prioritize understanding of infrastructure-layer rails and rules that govern settlement.
- Evaluate asset-layer implications for tokenized money, stablecoins, deposits, CBDCs, securities, and money market funds.
- Monitor how service-layer innovations in wallets, exchanges, and applications respond to changes in infrastructure and assets.
- The Note identifies emerging issues most relevant for policy without prescribing specific policy choices.
Source: The Rise of Tokenization: Deciphering New Trends in Payments and Asset Tokenization, Tobias Adrian; Yaiza Cabedo; Tommaso Mancini-Griffoli, July 2, 2026 (IMF Notes).
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