“Now, if we look ahead to the next 10 years, two transformative themes commonly come up. They are AI and tokenization.”
— Chia Der Jiun, Managing Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore, at the Singapore FinTech Festival 2025.
In 2022, MAS launched Project Guardian to explore the potential of tokenized finance. The past 3 years have shown how much the landscape has progressed. From capital markets to fund structures to interbank settlement, recent developments indicate that tokenized finance is entering an institutional phase, with Singapore positioning itself as a reference point for how the model could scale.
For global institutions and platforms building tokenized products, Singapore offers a jurisdiction that combines regulatory clarity with active development of settlement infrastructure, interoperability standards, and governance frameworks. And platforms like InvestaX, which are licensed under MAS as both a Capital Markets Services (CMS) provider and Recognised Market Operator (RMO), are positioned to serve as gateways for tokenized real world asset (RWA) issuance and distribution globally.
What Is Singapore Doing to Advance Real-World Asset Tokenization?
At the 2025 Singapore FinTech Festival, MAS Managing Director Chia Der Jiun outlined a 10-year vision built around two structural forces: AI and tokenization. His remarks signal that tokenized finance has moved beyond proof-of-concept and is now part of the region’s long-term strategy to maintain Singapore’s position as a global financial hub.
“Are asset-backed tokens clearly out of the lab? Without a doubt. Bonds have been issued natively and settled on chain. Money market funds have been tokenized. Major banks have offered tokenized cash management services to corporate treasuries.”
Since MAS launched Project Guardian in 2022, Singapore has moved from experimentation toward building the core components needed for institutional scale. The initiatives now form a connected framework:
- Project Guardian (Launched 2022): Expanded to more than 40 industry participants developing the tokenized asset layer for fixed income, funds, and structured products. Workstreams focus on legal structures, interoperability, and the operating models needed for regulated institutions to issue, distribute, and manage tokenized assets.
- Global Layer 1 (GL1) (Launched June 2024): A shared-ledger initiative exploring the infrastructure standards required to support these tokenized assets at scale. GL1 focuses on common settlement rules, data formats, and cross-network connectivity so tokenised assets can interoperate across platforms and jurisdictions.
- BLOOM (Launched October 2025): Extends Singapore’s settlement capabilities by enabling real-time, cross-border settlement for tokenized assets. BLOOM develops the settlement-asset layer needed for tokenized assets to be exchanged safely and with finality.
And recently, we’ve seen several new developments that reinforce this progression toward a usable, compliant infrastructure stack:
- MAS published an Operational Guide for tokenized Funds (November 2025), giving fund managers, custodians, and service providers a shared framework for governance, NAV calculation, investor onboarding, and compliance.
- MAS announced a live trial of tokenized MAS bills (November 2025), settled using a CBDC, for overnight interbank lending, a move that integrates tokenization into money market infrastructure.
- In collaboration with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, MAS contributed to a joint report “Aligning Digital Asset Offerings with Buy-Side Requirements” (November 2025) with IMAS and the Investment Association on aligning tokenized products with buy-side requirements.
We consider these as practical, production-oriented initiatives. They address not just what tokenization could do, but how it should operate within the core architecture of financial markets.
Notable Tokenized Products Launched in Singapore
Several launches demonstrate how tokenized financial products are beginning to operate within Singapore’s regulated frameworks.
1. Franklin Templeton and DBS Launch Tokenized Retail Fund
In November 2025, Franklin Templeton, in collaboration with DBS Bank, launched Singapore’s first tokenized money market fund for retail investors. The fund is structured under the Variable Capital Company (VCC) framework and is made available directly via DBS’s mobile banking app, offering investors blockchain-native access to short-duration yield products.
2. InvestaX Launches Tokenized MMF
InvestaX, in collaboration with OpenTrade, introduced a tokenized money market product that provides on-chain access to institutional-grade funds, including exposure to the Fidelity USD Money Market Fund. This launch reflects growing interest in short-duration, yield-linked assets that are familiar to institutional investors but distributed through programmable, compliant infrastructure.
3. OCBC Bank Launches Bespoke Tokenized Bonds
In early January 2025, OCBC became one of the first banks in Singapore to offer bespoke tokenized bonds to corporate accredited investors (defined as corporations with net assets > S$10 million). The offering represents a live use case of tokenized fixed‑income instruments under Singapore’s legal/regulatory regime.
4. InvestaX Launches Tokenized High Yield Corporate Bond
Another example is the launch of Tokenized High Yield Corporate Bond Earn (HYCB) - a product that offers exposure to BlackRock’s $7.8B iShares 0–5 Year High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (Ticker: SHYG) in a regulated, on-chain format. Developed in collaboration with OpenTrade, the product is structured for both institutional and accredited investors seeking programmable exposure to fixed-income instruments.
5. UBS, State Street and InvestaX Collaborate on Singapore’s First e-VCC Tokenized Fund Proof-of-Concept
In an MAS-supported pilot under Project Guardian, UBS Asset Management, State Street, and InvestaX participated in the issuance of a blockchain-native VCC fund using both public and private blockchain protocols. The initiative explored tokenized fund issuance, compliance workflows, and lifecycle management aligned to Singapore regulations.
For institutions and platforms evaluating where to build or access tokenized real-world assets, Singapore is demonstrating how tokenization can work at the intersection of compliance, utility, and market readiness.
Looking Ahead: What Challenges Remain?
While progress is tangible, MAS remains pragmatic. In his remarks at the SFF 2025, MD Chia outlined three areas where more work is needed before tokenization can scale sustainably.
1. Standardisation and interoperability
Fragmented standards can lead to liquidity fragmentation. MAS is actively promoting cross-network coordination to address this.
2. Reliable settlement assets
The growth of tokenized finance depends on deep, risk-aligned pools of digital cash and tokenized government instruments.
3. Institutional-grade networks
The infrastructure must support auditability, compliance, and performance at the scale large institutions require.
MAS is now engaging with these conditions. The operational guide for tokenized funds, for example, is a signal that Singapore is providing templates that institutions can use to design, launch, and service tokenized funds in a compliant and coordinated way.
The live CBDC-linked settlement trial also addresses a persistent question: how will real-world tokenized assets clear and settle across counterparties with finality and reliability? Singapore’s move to test this using its own MAS bills is an example of policy and infrastructure moving together.
Operating Within This Framework: The Role of Regulated Platforms
Singapore’s regulatory development and operational guidance create a workable environment for platforms focused on tokenized finance. Entities that are licensed under MAS frameworks - such as those holding Capital Markets Services (CMS) and Recognised Market Operator (RMO) licenses - are now operating within this infrastructure in ways that are directly relevant to institutional needs.
InvestaX is a MAS-licensed CMS and RMO platform based in Singapore, built to support the regulated issuance and lifecycle management of tokenized real-world assets.
By operating within Singapore’s regulatory architecture, InvestaX has supported financial institutions in issuing and launching tokenized assets under local frameworks. Asset classes such as private credit, U.S. Treasuries, gold, and structured notes are already active on InvestaX, reflecting the growing adoption of compliant, on-chain investment structures.
To explore tokenized product issuance or distribution through a regulated Singapore framework, contact us here.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is Singapore Doing in Real-World Asset Tokenization?
Singapore is building regulatory and infrastructure frameworks to support tokenized finance. Initiatives include Project Guardian, the BLOOM settlement initiative, and live CBDC settlement trials. MAS has also published operational guides for tokenized funds.
Is InvestaX a Regulated Tokenization Platform in Singapore?
Yes. InvestaX is licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore with a Capital Markets Services (CMS) license and a Recognised Market Operator (RMO) license. This enables the platform to support regulated issuance, compliance, and trading of tokenized financial products.
What Are Tokenized Funds?
Tokenized funds are traditional fund structures where ownership interests are recorded on blockchain networks. MAS has released a guide on how to structure and operate these funds in a compliant and interoperable way. Read guide