What Tokenization Means for Assets: Understanding Demand for Tokenized Assets and the Drivers of Widening Adoption

Franklin Templeton and Animoca Brands have launched a collaborative article series to analyze the institutional evolution of tokenized real-world assets and the integration of decentralized finance with traditional financial infrastructure. The analysis highlights that tokenization transforms static assets into programmable software, allowing for the separation and automated administration of ownership rights such as cash flows, voting, and access. By embedding smart contracts directly into tokens, issuers can automate dividend distributions and ownership transfers, effectively replacing manual back-office processes with flexible, onchain networks. The authors emphasize that this shift enables assets to be used dynamically as collateral in liquidity pools or for borrowing, mirroring traditional repo markets but with greater efficiency and real-time execution. This transition from inert assets in siloed accounts to active, programmable tokens represents a fundamental change in how capital is allocated and managed globally. The collaboration underscores the growing importance of bridging the gap between traditional finance and Web3 to attract institutional traffic. Ultimately, the piece argues that the programmability of these assets will drive the next stage of financial evolution by creating new utility and yield-bearing opportunities for investors.