IMF Warns of Volatility and Liquidity Constraints in Tokenized Equity Markets

“Moving assets onchain is only the first step,” said Bitget CEO Gracy Chen. “The real challenge lies in how efficiently that capital can operate once deployed.”

The International Monetary Fund underscores that while the use case is viable, the market remains in its early stages. According to the Fund, the tokenized real-world asset sector has expanded rapidly, reaching approximately $65 billion by July 31. Tokenized equities constitute roughly $2.3 billion of that total, compared to a 2025 global equity market capitalization approaching $160 trillion, as reported by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA).

Innovation continues to accelerate. Bullish (BLSH), the Gibraltar-based crypto firm and parent company of CoinDesk, launched tokenized equity trading in August. Shortly thereafter, OKX and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which operates the New York Stock Exchange, filed plans for a venue enabling round-the-clock trading of tokenized U.S. shares. Coinbase Global (COIN), Kraken, Binance, and Robinhood Markets (HOOD) also provide tokenized stock trading options.

The IMF cautions that tokenized equities exhibit approximately 1.5 times the volatility of their traditional counterparts and suffer from significantly lower liquidity.

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