Franklin Templeton published an analysis on the state of the tokenized asset market, detailing existing tokenization models and citing external projections that place the sector between USD 4 and 16 trillion by 2030. The document was prepared by Sandy Kaul, Director of Innovation at the manager, which manages USD 1.6 trillion in assets globally.
According to the analysis, RWA token market went from $5 billion in 2023 to over $25 billion in 2026, with private credit, treasury products and real estate as the most important assets. The projections mentionedcoming from third parties, raise that figure to USD 30 trillion by 2033.
Franklin Templeton has been operating since April 2021 the first tokenized monetary fund in the world on its Benji platform, with nearly USD 1.5 billion in assets under management. Based on this experience, the analysis distinguishes three tokenization models with different characteristics in terms of investor rights and liquidity.
The first is digital native tokens, which grant direct ownership over the asset and settle transactions instantly. The second is synthetic exposure tokens, that replicate the returns of the asset through a special vehicle without transferring ownership nor voting rights to the holder. The third is digital twins, which function as a receipt for property registered offline and are subject to traditional settlement cycles.
Robinhood, Kraken and Ondo launched tokenized shares in 2025 under the synthetic model for markets outside the United States. The initiatives of the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ and the DTCC (Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation) correspond to the digital twin model. In December 2025, the United States Securities Commission issued a no-objection letter to the DTCC to offer tokenized assets in custody from the second half of 2026.
The analysis notes that asset tokenization will converge traditional financial institutions and crypto-native participants into a common infrastructure, with digital wallets as the central interface for managing the assets of individuals and institutions.