03 Apr Knowledge BYTES Issue No. 5: Tokenisation in Practice: From Representation to Execution
The lates issue of Knowledge BYTES by INATBA argues that tokenisation is not merely the creation of a new asset class, but rather the migration of existing financial market infrastructure into programmable, interoperable, and integrated environments. The paper shifts the focus from the technical act of “representation”—digital recording of rights—to the critical challenge of “execution”.
As institutional adoption has accelerated through 2026, with major exchanges like Nasdaq and the NYSE integrating tokenised securities, the discussion has moved toward how these assets function within regulated market structures, legal frameworks, and international standards.
Key Takeaways
- Infrastructure Migration Over Asset Creation: Tokenisation restructures the existing financial system rather than creating a parallel one. It forces a reconsideration of how ownership is recorded, how settlement is achieved, and how legal enforceability is maintained in a distributed environment.
- Execution as the Critical Constraint: While representing rights on a ledger is largely a “solved problem,” the true challenge lies in execution. This involves settlement design, custody frameworks, and regulatory oversight, which are essential for achieving the scale and stability required by regulated capital markets.
- The Necessity of a Public Settlement Anchor: Private settlement models (like stablecoins) alone are insufficient for institutional-scale markets. Large-scale adoption requires public settlement anchors, such as Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), to ensure systemic resilience and legal certainty.
- Moving Toward a Multi-Currency Architecture: The landscape is shifting from dollar-dominant systems to a multi-currency digital architecture, evidenced by the rapid growth of non-dollar stablecoins (e.g., Euro, Yen, Reais) supported by frameworks like the EU’s MiCA regulation.
- Standards and Legal Harmonisation: The scalability of tokenised markets depends on international legal harmonisation and the adoption of global standards (such as ISO). These standards act as a “common language” that aligns technical implementation with legal and governance expectations across different jurisdictions.
We would like to extend a special thank you to the author, Limara Haque (Kunfud and INATBA Sustainability & Innovation Working Group Co-Chair), for her insightful analysis and dedication to this work. We also want to thank the reviewers for their invaluable feedback and contributions in ensuring the quality and depth of this publication.
To explore the detailed analysis of market context, settlement layers, and the future of institutional-grade financial systems, we invite you to read the full issue of Knowledge BYTES No. 5: Knowledge BYTES by INATBA_Issue No. 5.docx
Stay tuned for our April issue, where we will explore blockchain analytics education and the fight against financial crime.
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About INATBA
Founded in 2019 with the support of the European Commission, the International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA) is a global association advancing the adoption of distributed ledger technologies (DLT). The association is recognised for constructive engagement with regulators and policymakers and has contributed to initiatives such as MiCA, TFoR, eIDAS, and the CHAISE project. Its diverse community spans industry leaders, policymakers, academics, developers, and compliance experts. For more information, visit https://inatba.org/.
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