A tokenized financial asset is a financial asset or claim represented on a programmable digital ledger in tokenized form.
Bonds, equities, fund interests, deposits, and other financial claims can be issued natively on a digital ledger or represented there through tokenization. The token can carry information about ownership, transfer restrictions, settlement, or other rights. Tokenization can automate parts of issuance, trading, servicing, and settlement, but the legal rights represented by the token depend on the governing instrument and jurisdiction.
Tokenization changes the representation and transfer infrastructure of the asset. It does not automatically change the economic issuer, seniority, legal claim, or underlying risk.
Tokenized assets can interact with digital settlement assets and programmable workflows, allowing asset transfer and payment to occur within a shared digital environment.
A bond can be issued as a token on a permissioned ledger and settled against wholesale CBDC through a delivery-versus-payment process.