When BlackRock’s chairman Larry Fink declared in his annual letter that “every stock, every bond, every fund – every asset – can be tokenised”, he wasn’t forecasting some distant revolution. He was describing a shift already under way – one that is beginning to reshape how capital is formed, how assets are distributed and who gets access to financial opportunity.
At the centre of this transformation is a once-niche concept rapidly entering the mainstream: tokenised real-world assets (RWAs). Today, more than US$24 billion in RWAs circulate on public blockchains. These range from yield-bearing US Treasuries and private credit pools to tokenised commodities and real estate. What once seemed like a cryptocurrency curiosity is becoming part of global financial infrastructure. Behind the scenes, the pipes of capital markets are being quietly rewired.
The question is no longer whether tokenisation will reshape finance but who will shape it. With the release of its “Policy Statement 2.0 on the Development of Digital Assets” on June 26, Hong Kong has made a case that it intends to lead.
The statement introduced the “Leap” framework, which expands the regulatory perimeter to include stablecoin issuers, custodians and RWA platforms. More importantly, it sent a clear message that Hong Kong is actively championing tokenisation rather than just allowing it to happen.
The Leap framework – short for legal and regulatory streamlining, expanding tokenised products, advancing use cases and people and partnership development – formalises stablecoin licensing, provides clarity on tokenised exchange-traded funds and builds on earlier pilots in digital bond issuance and green finance. It also embraces a wider vision of encouraging the tokenisation of everything from precious metals to renewable infrastructure.
But perhaps the most meaningful shift isn’t what the policy regulates. It’s how it frames tokenisation – as a pillar of new financial infrastructure rather than a sandbox experiment. That alone sets Hong Kong apart from the pack.
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