In current crypto information, hedge funds moved nearer to embracing tokenization in 2025, with 33% actively pursuing or exploring the know-how for his or her fund items, based on the seventh Annual World Crypto Hedge Fund Report launched November 5 by AIMA and PwC.
The survey of 122 institutional buyers and hedge fund managers representing almost $1 trillion in belongings underneath administration discovered that 52% of respondents expressed curiosity in tokenized buildings.
Managers cited broader investor entry and operational efficiencies as the primary drivers behind their exploration of on-chain fund items.
Crypto Information: Actual-World Property Hit File Valuation
In additional crypto information, the elevated institutional curiosity in tokenization coincided with the real-world asset (RWA) market reaching an all-time high of $35.8 billion on November 7, based on rwa.xyz knowledge.
Tokenized cash market funds accounted for a considerable portion of this development, with a market capitalization of $8.7 billion.
BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) led the tokenized cash market fund sector with $2.8 billion, adopted by Circle USYC at $990 million and Franklin OnChain U.S. Authorities Cash Fund at $844 million.
These three merchandise considerably outpaced the rest of the tokenized cash market universe.
Smaller Managers Lead Adoption
The report revealed that smaller fund managers confirmed larger willingness to experiment with tokenization.
Sub-$1 billion AUM managers demonstrated 37% curiosity in tokenized buildings, in contrast with 24% amongst their bigger counterparts. Macro technique managers displayed the best curiosity at 67%.
Crypto-native hedge funds superior additional alongside the tokenization curve. Sixteen % of respondents had already tokenized fund items or deliberate to take action inside a yr. On the similar time, 8% had allotted to tokenized real-world belongings, suggesting earlier adoption throughout the crypto-native sector.
Crypto Information: Regulatory Hurdles Persist, However Infrastructure Features Traction
Regardless of rising curiosity, authorized and regulatory uncertainty remained the first barrier to the broader rollout of tokenization.
Seventy-two % of respondents cited authorized uncertainty and restricted investor demand as main obstacles, alongside issues about interoperability and system integration.
Regulatory challenges different by area, with 44% of North American managers figuring out regulatory uncertainty as their prime barrier, in contrast with 28% in EMEA and 9% in APAC.
However, hedge funds are more and more using regulated, tokenized cash market funds and tokenized treasuries for liquidity administration and collateral functions.
Managers reported tangible advantages, together with quicker settlement, enhanced yield, and decrease operational threat, even because the ecosystem continued to mature.
Conventional hedge funds cited authorized and compliance providers as the realm in biggest want of enchancment, with 40% of respondents flagging this concern.
Crypto hedge funds prioritized entry to banking, authorized, and compliance assist, in addition to custody infrastructure.
Crypto Information: Armstrong Highlights 24/7 Buying and selling Potential
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong highlighted the potential of tokenization to remove conventional market constraints in an announcement on November 6, as per current crypto information experiences.
He acknowledged:
“It’s almost 2026, and billions of individuals nonetheless have to attend for the US to get up earlier than they’ll commerce the most effective monetary markets. Buying and selling hours and markets that shut are outdated. Tokenized belongings might be higher for everybody, with prompt settlement and 24/7 availability.”
Armstrong’s feedback aligned with these of hedge fund managers relating to the operational benefits of tokenization, notably when it comes to settlement velocity and market accessibility.
Wanting forward, 15% of surveyed managers anticipated tokenized hedge fund buildings to develop into the business normal inside a decade.
The bulk (55%) anticipated that tokenized and conventional codecs would run in parallel. Solely 13% believed tokenization would stay area of interest or specialised.
The report positioned tokenization as transferring past conceptual pitch decks towards dwell implementations, anchored first in tokenized money and fund items. The tempo of broader adoption remained tied to regulatory readability and demand from allocators.
