Track 03Module 1 of 510 sources
What tokenisation is and why institutions care
Separate the real change, which is in settlement and record keeping, from the marketing.
Key ideas
- A token is a record of a claim on a programmable ledger. The asset does not change. The way ownership is recorded and transferred does.
- The gains on offer are faster settlement, collateral that moves at any hour, fewer reconciliations and fractional ownership.
- A token is only as good as the legal claim behind it. Ask who the issuer is, what you own and who holds the underlying asset.
- Liquidity does not appear because something is tokenised. An illiquid asset in a token wrapper is still illiquid.
Start hereWatch or read these first. They carry the core idea.
Tokenization: What it is and Why it Matters
Video · The DTCC · 1:31
The ninety-second definition from the firm that settles US securities.
Tokenization could take over Wall Street. What is it?
Video · Yahoo Finance · 3:07
A quick news-desk explainer.
Report
Tokenisation in the context of money and other assets: concepts and implications for central banks
BIS CPMI · 2024
The central bank view of what tokenisation is and what it changes. The clearest neutral primer.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink: We're at the beginning of the tokenization of all assets
Video · CNBC Television · 5:53
The head of the world's largest asset manager on why he thinks every asset will be tokenised.
CoreThe standard references. Work through them once the idea is clear.
Why Tokenize? Fidelity on Onchain Assets and the Next Phase of Adoption
Video · a16z Frontier · 16:05
A large asset manager explains what it gets from issuing funds on chain.
Tokenization, Unwrapped: The $30 Trillion Revolution in Finance | A Centrifuge Documentary
Video · Centrifuge · 46:29
A documentary on the industry's own case. Watch as advocacy.
Report
From ripples to waves: The transformational power of tokenizing assets
McKinsey · 2024
A consultant's estimate of which assets go first and how fast.
Report
Report
Larry Fink's Annual Chairman's Letter
BlackRock
The annual letter where the tokenisation thesis is set out in full.
Fink Sees Tokenization of Financial Assets as Next Step
Video · Bloomberg Television · 4:03
A shorter interview on the same theme.
Practice
Pick one tokenised product. Write down the issuer, the legal claim, the custodian, where it trades and how you would redeem it.
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Where this leads
03.2 · TokenisationThe plumbing: settlement, collateral, deposits and stablecoinsExplain atomic settlement, the unified ledger idea, and the difference between a stablecoin and a tokenised deposit.03.4 · TokenisationWhere it breaks: stability risks and retail lossesList the specific ways tokenised markets fail, and what past crypto shocks did to small investors.