Tokenization is poised to reshape capital markets, but for treasury leaders, the shift is less about blockchain hype and more about changes in operational bottlenecks and expectations. The treasuries that stand to benefit won’t be first movers – they’ll be those that reinforce the mechanics underpinning secure, efficient and resilient financial operations, whatever rails are in use.

Until recently, tokenization was limited to pilots. Now, 2025 marks a true pivot point, especially in Asia. Singapore’s Project Guardian is implementing scalable workstreams with global financial institutions across funds, fixed income, foreign exchange ( FX ) and tokenized bank liabilities, while Hong Kong’s EnsembleTX now pilots real-value tokenized deposit transactions for treasury and money market management. Regional market infrastructures are also testing T+0 or real-time settlement. Treasury teams face intensifying demands from banks, custodians, investors and regulators as these transitions accelerate.

The real challenge: disciplined operations

The task isn’t guessing which technology wins, but understanding which operational disciplines must endure as technology and regulation evolve.

Depositary receipts: original “digital rails”

Long before distributed ledgers, depositary receipts ( DRs ) solved what tokenization now revisits: clear ownership, enforceable rights, predictable settlement and investor-grade disclosure. DRs represent over US$1 trillion in foreign equity exposure on US and European exchanges and remain widely used by Asian corporates accessing global markets.

Why DRs thrived: pillars that still matter

Four pillars explain DRs’ durability:

• Legal enforceability under US securities law
• Custody by regulated banks with balance sheet strength
• Unified liquidity on established exchanges
• Mandatory disclosure and governance standards.

DRs matured into globally resilient infrastructure over decades. Tokenization has not yet matched all four pillars as most tokenized assets trade infrequently, remain fragmented across networks or lack consistent investor protection and disclosure obligations. Progress is accelerating, with advances in interoperability ( Chainlink CCIP, Broadridge-Fnality integration ) and hybrid legal models, but technology alone does not create trust or liquidity – operational structure and legal clarity must lead. Tokenization, so far, is evolutionary.

Three standards treasury should demand

Treasury leaders should benchmark tokenization efforts against the discipline DRs deliver:

• Ownership clarity – Auditable registers, transparent custody chains and legally enforceable title, confirming who owns what, when and under which jurisdiction, via DTCC, global custodians or digital wallets.
• Event reliability – Corporate actions ( dividends, rights, conversions, tax withholding ) must be processed quickly and accurately across multiple jurisdictions and time zones.
• Disclosure and accountability – Regulator-recognized reporting and enforceable governance, not simply on-chain logs. Treasury depends on both technical and legal settlement finality.

Tokenization only succeeds when these standards are met.

Operational realities for treasury management

Tokenization raises the bar but doesn’t eliminate core responsibilities.

Real-time ownership and cash movement

Settlement cycles are compressing towards T+0 or 24/7 availability. In August 2025, leading institutions completed the first real-time weekend US Treasury repo via Canton Network, showing collateral mobility in practice. Treasuries must update liquidity buffers, forecasting and intraday controls.

New investor configurations

Tokenized funds, programmable portfolios and digital-native institutions now expect application programming interface ( API )-driven reporting, intraday updates and modular disclosures. EnsembleTX shows that tokenized deposits, though in pilot use, may soon underpin daily treasury processes.

Multi-rail settlement and liquidity risks

Custody networks, central securities depositaries, tokenized deposits and stablecoins increasingly coexist – often without seamless interoperability. For example, a treasury may settle a dividend via tokenized deposits while hedging FX through Swift. Interoperability tools are emerging, but most tokenized assets still have shallow secondary liquidity. Treasury teams need plans for fragmented pools and varying liquidity.

Regulatory divergence – frameworks in motion

The Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority have advanced guidance and sandbox pilots, but full statutory regulatory regimes ( like EU MiCA or Switzerland’s DLT Act ) are still maturing. Treasuries should prepare for parallel compliance, supervisory expectations and cross-border oversight through the coming transition period.

A treasury playbook for tokenization:

• Map registers and workflow resilience – Assess ability to track and reconcile ownership across custody and tokenized environments. Would processes withstand near-real-time settlement?
• Audit operational bottlenecks – Identify manual steps in FX, cash positioning and corporate actions. Minor gaps can quickly escalate as cycles compress.
• Demand early transparency – Treasury must help shape, not merely receive, standards. Push for clarity on tokenized deposits, interoperability, custody obligations and evolving protocols.
• Stress-test corporate actions – Simulate dividends, rights, conversions and tax cycles, especially under T+0 and round-the-clock settlement. These processes expose operational fragilities.
• Assess custody and key management risk – Unlike DRs, which rely on regulated custodians, tokenized assets may depend on private key security. Loss of a key means irreversible loss, so institutional-grade custody is essential.

Evolution, not revolution

Tokenization is a work in progress. Interoperability and regulatory change suggest future institutional traction – especially for repo, collateral and money market funds – but the blueprint for trust is incremental, not instant. Treasury leaders should calibrate expectations and benchmark new solutions against decades of DR discipline.

DRs still standard as rails change

DRs are not historical artifacts – they are living infrastructure supporting over US$1 trillion in cross-border equity exposure and remain central for Asian issuers. Tokenization may change how assets move, but the blueprint for trust is already known. Those who master the mechanics DRs made essential will shape – and benefit from – the next era of capital markets.

Guy Gresham is a board adviser on capital markets, technology and sustainability, a former group head of global IR advisory and investor solutions ( DRs ) at BNY and a Cambridge DSA fellow 2026. This article draws on his forthcoming research paper for Cornell University’s Emerging Markets Institute, entitled “Fragmented Globalization, Unified Access: the Evolving Role of Depositary Receipts in a Multipolar Market” ( January 2026 ).