Next-gen markets: Executive summary Tokenization, or the representation of traditional financial and privateassets as digital tokens on blockchain infrastructure, is quickly becominga pivotal innovation with the potential to reshape capital markets. The2025 Broadridge Tokenization Survey, covering 300 financial institutionsacross North America and Europe, underscores that tokenization has Custodians are leading the charge, with 63% already offeringtokenized asset services and an additional 30% preparing to doso within two years. Their primary motivations include enhancedsecurity, operational efficiency, and improved transparency.Asset managers are rapidly gaining ground, driven by investordemand for new, innovative products, especially within thehigh-growth private assets space. Although only 15% of asset Despite clear enthusiasm, critical barriers remain. Regulatoryuncertainty is the top concern, cited by 73% of respondents.Institutions continue to seek greater clarity on how tokenizedassets are classified, regulated, and integrated with existingframeworks in major jurisdictions, including the U.S., EU, UK, andCanada. However, recent movement, such as the passage of the Private assets, particularly private equity and real estate,have emerged as the clear initial use cases. Tokenization hasthe potential to uniquely address traditional barriers such asilliquidity, high operational costs, and barriers to entry for retailinvestors. Indeed, survey respondents highlighted democratized Security represents another nuanced challenge: While nearlytwo-thirds of early adopters recognize the potential for improvedsecurity through robust implementation, 54% of surveyed firmscited technology and cybersecurity concerns as significant risks. Ultimately, financial institutions must strategically positionthemselves to capture tokenization’s benefits and mitigateits risks. This paper explores the tokenization landscapecomprehensively, identifies best practices, and outlinesactionable recommendations tailored specifically for custodians, The move toward direct-to-investor distribution models–one ofthe key trends shaping adoption in this space–further highlightsboth the opportunity and risk inherent in tokenization. Morethan 80% of early adopters recognize significant potential forenhanced client engagement and operational simplificationthrough direct distribution. Yet this model also presents strategic Survey methodology The evolving tokenization landscape Public market use cases: From pilots to practice What is tokenization? Institutional adoption is no longer theoretical. Financial firms areactively deploying tokenization across public market instruments, Asset tokenization is the process of creating a digitalrepresentation of an asset on a blockchain or distributedledger. This digital representation, or “token,” confersownership rights and can be exchanged, transferred,or used as collateral much like the underlying asset.Importantly, tokenization also introduces built-inprogrammability, called smart contracts, viaembedded code, enabling new forms of automation, BlackRock’s BUIDL fund (launched in 2023) has grown to over$2.3 billion AUM (as of August 2025) and now operates acrossmultiple public blockchains. It offers institutional exposure totokenized U.S. Treasuries and money market instruments with Franklin Templeton’s FOBXX fund represents another keymilestone. As the first U.S.-registered mutual fund using a publicblockchain as its system of record, it enables peer-to-peer sharetransfers, stablecoin funding via BENJI tokens, and real-timeownership tracking. Other firms, like WisdomTree, Fidelity, andInvesco, are following suit with tokenized ETFs and fixed-income In practice, virtually any asset with value (public orprivate) can be tokenized, including private equitystakes, debt instruments, investment funds (e.g., mutualfunds or alternatives), and one-of-a-kind or luxuryitems. By converting ownership rights into digital tokenson a shared ledger, tokenization enables fractional These developments demonstrate that tokenization is gainingtraction not only in emerging asset classes but also in the most Institutional adoption: Who’s moving and why The pace of, and approach to, adopting tokenization variessignificantly by institution type. According to the 2025 BroadridgeTokenization Survey, custodians have emerged as clear early Tokenization is not one size fits all Tokenization means different things to different institutions. Itsimpact, and its relative importance to the enterprise, varies based Institutional enthusiasm is increasingly reflected in adoption rates: •Custodiansare at the vanguard of tokenization adoption andpositioned at the center of asset servicing and settlement. Byembedding tokenization into their core infrastructure, they areautomating settlement, enhancing fund administration, and •63% of custodians already offer tokenized asset services,with another 30% planning to enter withi