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A decade ago, most conversations about putting real-world assets on a blockchain in Asia were theoretical, hampered by the absence of clear rules and workable platforms. That era is over. According to a new report from Sygnum Singapore, the shift toward APAC tokenized assets has moved from cautious curiosity to active portfolio building, with the vast majority of surveyed investors already holding or actively evaluating exposure to tokenized real-world assets.
Key takeaways
- 68% of surveyed APAC investors already hold tokenized RWAs, with another 12% currently evaluating exposure.
- Tokenized equities are the most preferred asset class at 66%, ahead of tokenized treasuries at 44%.
- Portfolio diversification is the top investment rationale, cited by 72% of respondents.
- Almost half of respondents expect 15% to 30% of capital markets to shift on-chain within three to five years, a figure implying roughly USD 40 trillion in nominal value.
Strong Adoption of Tokenized RWAs Among APAC Investors
Adoption among APAC investors is already the norm rather than the exception, with only one in five respondents reporting no exposure at all to tokenized real world assets. Sygnum’s survey found that 68% of respondents currently hold tokenized RWAs, while another 12% are in the process of evaluating whether to add exposure. That leaves non-adopters as a clear minority.
The result is notable given how limited access to fully regulated tokenized securities still is in markets like Singapore and Hong Kong. Sygnum’s researchers suggest one likely explanation: some respondents may be counting stablecoins, effectively tokenized cash, as part of their RWA exposure, alongside tokenized gold and money market funds that have become increasingly accessible through crypto wallets and exchanges.
The survey sample itself is split almost evenly between high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) and professional investors, with respondents drawn from Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea. Participants span banks, asset and fund managers, hedge funds, external asset managers, family offices, private equity and venture capital firms, and trading and brokerage houses. Crypto ownership runs through the sample too: 97% of those already holding tokenized RWAs also hold crypto, and 80% of crypto holders overall have moved into tokenized assets, compared with just 11% among those without crypto.
Investment Preferences and Capital Allocation Patterns
When it comes to what investors actually want exposure to, equities dominate. Tokenized equities top the preference list at 66%, ahead of tokenized treasuries at 44%, a pattern Sygnum links to both the AI-driven equity rally and a growing supply of tokenized equity products reaching the market. Professional investors tend to favor tokenized private equity for its alpha and illiquidity premium, while HNWIs lean toward private credit for steadier yield.
Diversification is the clear driving motive behind these allocations. Portfolio diversification leads the investment rationale at 72%, well ahead of access to new markets (58%) and yield (57%). Sygnum’s report frames this as more than a simple preference: with tokenized RWAs and crypto increasingly forming a larger slice of hybrid traditional-digital portfolios, what investors describe as diversification may actually be the early emergence of “on-chain” as its own distinct portfolio category, rather than just another sleeve of an existing allocation.
Capital sourcing patterns reinforce that reading. Only 18% of investors say they would fund tokenized RWA positions purely through reallocation of existing holdings, against 36% relying on fresh capital and 46% blending both approaches. In practice, that means fresh capital funds more than 80% of inflows into portfolios already invested. HNWIs skew more toward reallocation (22% versus 14% for professionals), while professional investors favor the mixed approach (50% versus 41%).
Infrastructure, Custody Preferences, and Blockchain Choices
Custody preferences split sharply along investor type, reflecting different risk tolerances and operational setups. Professional investors gravitate toward third-party qualified custodians, cited by 45% as their preference, with 31% favoring exchange or platform-held arrangements. HNWIs show a more even spread, tilting somewhat more toward exchange and platform custody than their institutional counterparts.
On the technology side, public blockchains hold an edge for liquidity and interoperability. Public networks such as Ethereum and Solana are favored by a notable share of respondents, with 42% of HNWIs expressing a preference for public chains. Professional investors, by contrast, are largely blockchain-agnostic, at 40%, prioritizing a product that works regardless of the underlying rail. Some participants still favor private or permissioned networks like Canton Network, but the broader trend points toward wider acceptance of public infrastructure as the default for accessing tokenized markets.
Market Outlook and Barriers to Tokenization Growth
Investor sentiment on the pace of tokenization is bullish across nearly every time horizon Sygnum tested. Over half of respondents (55%) expect at least 15% of capital markets to migrate on-chain within three to five years, with 48% forecasting a range of 15% to 30% and 7.5% predicting more than 30%. Even the conservative end of that range implies roughly USD 40 trillion in nominal value moving on-chain. Conviction actually strengthens with longer horizons, rising from 45% at the one-year mark to 55% at five years or beyond. Professional investors are notably more bullish on the 15%-plus scenario, at 61%, and account for the bulk of respondents predicting growth above 30%.
That optimism, however, runs into real structural friction. Primary market issuance of tokenized assets is scaling quickly, but secondary market liquidity and legal clarity around ownership rights remain the two most persistent market-level barriers, according to the report. Custody-related concerns tend to fade as investors gain experience and allocation grows, but questions about legal certainty and thin exit liquidity in secondary venues persist regardless of how sophisticated an investor becomes.
Sygnum’s own track record illustrates how the infrastructure side has evolved since the firm began this work in 2019. Holding a banking license from FINMA in Switzerland, Sygnum has built out issuance and trading platforms, Desygnate and SygnEx, and used them to tokenize a wide range of assets: an original Picasso painting and a CryptoPunk NFT, a private debt token issued alongside Float and Fasanara Capital, tokenized share classes of Hamilton Lane’s Global Private Assets Fund, treasury reserves for Matter Labs through a money market fund, syndicated loans secured by Bitcoin collateral, and Keyrock’s first tokenized corporate bond. The firm also supported Fidelity International’s first tokenized money market fund.
Knowledge and Education as Drivers of Tokenization Adoption
Perhaps the most actionable finding in the report concerns what actually moves the needle on allocation size. Investors open to committing more than 10% of their portfolio to tokenized RWAs over the coming 12 to 18 months share a strikingly similar profile in terms of tokenization knowledge, crypto exposure, and existing RWA holdings. Sygnum’s analysis identifies knowledge and familiarity with tokenization as the clearest driver of intended allocation size, ahead of other variables tested.
That finding carries a straightforward implication for the industry: investor education and familiarity are the most direct lever available for growing future inflows into tokenized real world assets. As more institutions launch regulated products and as understanding of the mechanics spreads beyond early adopters, the gap between stated intent and actual capital deployed is likely to narrow, though Sygnum’s researchers note that a larger, longitudinal study across more of APAC would be needed to confirm whether that gap closes in practice.
FAQ
What percentage of APAC investors currently hold tokenized real-world assets?
68% of respondents currently hold tokenized RWAs according to the Sygnum 2026 report.
Which tokenized asset class is most preferred by investors in APAC?
Tokenized equities are the most preferred asset class at 66% of respondents.
What is the main reason investors allocate to tokenized RWAs?
Diversification is the leading investment rationale, cited by 72% of respondents.
What custody arrangements do professional investors prefer for tokenized assets?
Professional investors favor third-party qualified custodians (45%), while HNWIs prefer exchange or platform custody (31%).
Article produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the editorial team.