Everyone Wants to Tokenize Assets, No One Is Building the Market

The tokenization industry is shifting focus from merely issuing assets onchain to building the complex infrastructure required for functional financial markets. While early projects proved that assets like Treasuries and stocks could be represented digitally, the current challenge lies in creating liquidity, collateral verification, and automated settlement workflows. The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) recently demonstrated this by processing real production trades involving over 30 institutions, while Ondo Finance integrated with the Fund/SERV network to bridge traditional mutual-fund infrastructure. Simultaneously, the BIS-led Project Agorá is exploring how tokenized deposits and reserves can improve wholesale cross-border settlement. Ault Blockchain, an EVM-compatible Layer 1 launched in March 2026, exemplifies this trend by attempting to integrate issuance, trading, and settlement within a single, compliance-oriented ecosystem. By utilizing a licensed node structure and DAO governance, Ault aims to provide the underlying machinery for financial activity rather than just a ledger for asset storage. Ultimately, the market is moving toward integrated environments where compliance, identity, and reporting are programmable, signaling that the novelty of simple tokenization is being replaced by a demand for robust, interconnected financial infrastructure.