A new Q4 2025 survey from tokenization platform Brickken suggests that the majority of real-world asset (RWA) issuers are using tokenization to raise capital rather than unlock secondary market liquidity, according to a report shared with CoinDesk.
Among respondents, 53.8% said capital formation and fundraising efficiency is their main reason for tokenizing, while 15.4% said the need for liquidity was their main incentive. Another 38.4% said no liquidity was needed, while 46.2% said they expect liquidity in the secondary market within six to 12 months.
“What we are seeing is a move away from tokenization as a buzzword and towards tokenization as a financial infrastructure layer,” Jordi Esturi, CMO of Brickken, told CoinDesk. “Issuers are using it to solve real problems: access to capital, investor reach and operational complexity.”
Brickken’s report comes as major US stock exchanges announce plans to expand trading models for tokenized assets, including 24/7 markets. CME Group said they will offer 24-hour trading for their crypto derivatives by May 29, while the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq shared their plans to offer 24/7 trading of tokenized stocks.
Esturi said that the exchanges’ plans have more to do with the evolution of the business model than with a disconnection from the issuer’s demand. “It’s less about getting ahead of demand and more about exchanges evolving their business model,” he said. “Exchanges increase revenue by increasing trading volume, and expanding trading hours is a natural lever.”
At the same time, many issuers are still in what he described as the validation phase, during which they test regulatory structures, test investor appetite and digitize issuance processes. “Liquidity is not their main focus yet because they are laying the foundation,” he emphasized, adding that they see tokenization as “the upstream engine that powers trading venues.”
Brickken’s CMO also said that without structured, high-quality, compliant assets entering the market, secondary trading platforms have nothing meaningful to trade. “The real value creation happens at the issuance layer,” Esturi noted.
Optional vs. Mandatory Liquidity
While 38.4% of issuers surveyed said liquidity was not required, Esturi pointed out the difference between “optional liquidity and mandatory liquidity,” noting that many private market issuers operate with long-term horizons. “Liquidity is inevitable, but it must grow in parallel with issuance volume and institutional adoption, not ahead.”
Ondo, which started with tokenized U.S. Treasuries and now has more than $2 billion in assets, is focusing on stocks and ETFs specifically because of their “strong price discovery, deep liquidity and clear valuation,” Chief Strategy Officer Ian de Bode said in a recent interview with CoinDesk.
“You tokenize something for ease of access or to use it as collateral,” de Bode said. “The shares fit both and are priced the same as assets that people really understand, unlike a building in Manhattan. If TradFi goes 24/7, it will be a blessing,” de Bode added. “It’s our biggest bottleneck.”
The survey shows that tokenization is already operational for many participants: 69.2% of respondents reported having completed the tokenization process and being active, 23.1% are in progress, and 7.7% are still in the planning phase.
Regulations remain a problem
Regulation is a major concern among respondents: 53.8% of respondents said regulation slowed down their operations, while 30.8% reported partial or contextual regulatory frictions. In total, 84.6% experienced some level of regulatory burden. In comparison, 13% cited technological or development challenges as the most difficult part of tokenization.
“Compliance is not something issuers have to deal with after launch; it is something they consider and configure from day one,” said Álvaro Garrido, founding partner of Legal Node. “We see a growing demand for legal structures tailored to the specific needs of the project and the underlying technology.”
The report also suggests that tokenization is expanding beyond the real estate sector. Real estate accounted for 10.7% of assets tokenized or planned for tokenization, compared to 28.6% for equity/equities and 17.9% for intellectual property and entertainment-related assets. Respondents spanned sectors including technology platforms (31.6%), entertainment (15.8%), private credit (15.8%), renewable energy (5.3%), banking (5.3%), carbon assets (5.2%), aerospace (5.3%) and hospitality (5.2%).
“The true bridge between TradFi and DeFi is not ideological,” said Patrick Hennes, head of digital asset services at DZ PRIVATBANK. “It is the issuance infrastructure that translates regulatory requirements, investor protection and asset servicing standards into programmable systems.”
