Real-world asset tokenization is moving from a buzzy concept to a serious business strategy, and it’s pulling in industries that rarely cross paths. At its core, tokenizing assets means converting ownership of something physical—like property, equipment or even carbon credits—into digital tokens that can be traded more easily. In theory, everything from capital raising to asset management becomes faster, more flexible and far less tied to paperwork than the systems businesses have relied on for decades.
While the use cases vary, the underlying trend is clear: Tokenization is pushing businesses to think beyond traditional ownership and toward a future built on fluid, programmable value. Below, members of Forbes Technology Council discuss ways the tokenization of real-world assets could transform how businesses operate over the next few years.
Providing Access To Global Investors
Tokenizing cash flows can give smaller companies and creators access to global investors, not just local banks. When you can easily fractionalize and trade these assets, capital finds productive teams faster, and career-building projects stop dying for lack of funding. – Gergo Vari, Lensa, Inc.
Enabling Fractional Ownership And Real-Time Settlements
Tokenizing real assets can democratize access to illiquid markets by enabling fractional ownership and real-time settlement on permissioned ledgers. This could unlock new capital flows, streamline compliance through smart contracts and create secondary markets, fundamentally altering how companies raise funds, manage assets and engage investors. – Mammon Baloch, Starlight Retail Inc.
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Powering On-Demand Liquidity And Programmable Enterprise Financing
Companies that enable real-world asset tokenization will become the new financial infrastructure providers. By offering platforms that turn physical assets into instant, compliant collateral, they’ll power on-demand liquidity and programmable financing for enterprises. These firms will sit between finance and industry, capturing value as the rails of a new asset-backed economy. – Tushar Vartak, RAKBank
Creating New Asset-Light Business Opportunities
Asset tokenization could create new industries. For example, an asset-light heavy industry might emerge, where machinery access is tokenized to smaller companies in times where the main company is not using the equipment. – Sabrin Freedman-Alexander, Cloudvoid
Allowing Businesses To Raise Capital More Efficiently
Tokenization will enable fractional ownership of high-value assets like real estate, art and commodities, allowing businesses to raise capital more efficiently and democratizing access for global investors. This shift enhances liquidity, reduces transaction friction and creates new revenue models through programmable, transparent ownership, transforming how value is created and exchanged. – Govinda Rao Banothu, Cognizant Technology Solutions
Automating Investing And Fund Management
Automated investing marks a revolution in finance, and real-time fund management gets rid of all those papers and fax machines. As contracts shift from one-party paper contracts to multiparty e-contracts, speed and efficiency rise. At the same time, it’s now less likely that success hinges on talent. Collaboration, innovation and clear digital policies are verifiable by all parties. – Sreekanth Narayan, LTIMindtree
Quickly Unlocking Asset Value
Tokenizing real-world assets could make things that once took a lot of time to trade—like real estate or equipment—instantly liquid. Businesses could unlock value quickly without selling everything or taking on big debt. That faster access to capital means they can react to opportunities sooner, fund new ideas and grow with far more flexibility than today’s paperwork-heavy systems allow. – Bhupendra Singh, Marriott International
Generating New Revenue Streams
Tokenization will allow fractional ownership of high-value assets. This will allow businesses to raise capital more quickly and from a wider pool of investors. Assets that are tokenized on the blockchain become liquid, tradeable and transparent. Businesses that tokenize assets on the blockchain will have the potential to generate new revenue streams and increased market efficiencies. – Saket Chaudhari, TriNet Inc.
Opening Up New Markets
Tokenizing real-world assets can make ownership, trading and investment more accessible and efficient. By turning assets like real estate, commodities or art into digital tokens, businesses can unlock liquidity, fractional ownership and faster transactions, creating new revenue streams and broader participation in markets that were previously hard to access. – Pratik Badri
Fueling Innovation, Transparency And Resilience
Tokenization can help enable organizations to unlock new capital, transparency and operational agility. If we transform our static assets—whether property, carbon credits or infrastructure—into programmable tokens, businesses can then raise funds in real time, automate compliance and invite global participation. In turn, this can help shift focus to fueling innovation and resilience. – Dan Sorensen, Nexus Security Advisors
Funding Upgrades Without Debt
Tokenization turns ownership into liquidity for sure. Imagine a factory selling fractional tokens of its equipment to fund upgrades without taking out loans. This blurs the line between financing and participation because it lets businesses raise capital, reward stakeholders and unlock value that used to sit idle. – Dan Haiem, AppMakers USA
Attracting Investors Who Were Once Priced Out
Tokenization could make traditionally illiquid assets instantly tradable, unlocking new liquidity and participation. Businesses could fractionalize ownership of things like real estate or energy projects, attracting investors who were once priced out. That much-needed transparency and accessibility could fundamentally reshape how value is created, shared and scaled across industries. – Mark Vena, SmartTech Research
Fostering New Infrastructure Deployment And Innovation
From a telecom industry perspective, tokenization of real-world assets could revolutionize infrastructure investment and spectrum management. By tokenizing assets like fiber networks or spectrum licenses, operators can unlock fractional ownership, improve liquidity and attract new capital, accelerating deployment, innovation and cross-border collaboration. – Hemant Soni, CAPGEMINI AMERICA INC.
Monetizing Outcomes, Not Just Assets
Tokenization lets firms sell outcomes, not just assets. Imagine “uptime tokens” for a data center or “carbon-reduction tokens” for a supply chain: Investors fund capacity now, and smart contracts pay out only if service-level agreements or ESG targets are met. Capital, compliance and performance converge into one programmable value stream. – Akhilesh Sharma, A3Logics Inc.
Democratizing Space Access
Tokenization will extend beyond Earth, enabling fractional ownership of satellites, lunar research and even space travel. Emerging nations could purchase shared access to satellite data for telecommunications, earth observation and climate monitoring. This democratizes opportunity, fuels innovation and channels space-based assets into sustainable value for everyone on Earth. – Shelli Brunswick, SB Global LLC
Funding Niche Assets Through Fractionalization
Fractionalization expands the investor base by slicing assets into compliant micro-stakes, allowing firms to reach globally accredited, lawful investors. That means niche things like specialty real estate, equipment leases or fine art finally get funded. The same goes for IP and data: Music catalogs, software licenses and subscriptions become tokenized cash flows. – Harikrishnan Muthukrishnan, Florida Blue
Shifting Businesses From Static Ownership Models To Continuous Value Exchange
Tokenization will turn traditionally illiquid assets into programmable, tradeable units, unlocking liquidity and fractional ownership. Businesses will shift from static ownership models to continuous value exchange, where assets like real estate, energy or IP generate yield dynamically through smart contracts and global 24/7 markets. – Nidhi Jain, CloudEagle.ai
Revealing Hidden Business Value
Tokenization will change business not by creating new assets, but by revealing value long ignored. When ownership becomes fluid and divisible, hidden potential awakens, access replaces exclusivity and participation replaces distance. Yet benefit comes only if leaders act consciously—not chasing hype, but structuring tokens around real utility, trust and shared value, not illusion. – Dileep Rai, Hachette Book Group
Eliminating Manual Records And Transaction Documentation
Tokenization will drastically reduce the cost and time associated with asset transfers by replacing cumbersome legal documentation, intermediaries and manual record-keeping with smart contracts on a blockchain. This streamlining impacts every business involved in asset management, from title companies to escrow services. Friction is the enemy of progress. – Uttam Kumar, American Eagle Outfitters
Making Data A Tradeable, Liquid Asset
In the AdTech and MarTech sectors, tokenizing data assets could revolutionize transparency and trust. Advertisers could trade verified audience segments or attention tokens directly, with blockchain ensuring provenance and fair value. It turns data from an opaque commodity into a liquid, accountable asset class. – Ivan Guzenko, SmartyAds Inc.