Tokenized Assets and the Rise of Digital-First Investors in Asia: Why Now Is the Moment to Embrace Tokenized Funds for Liquidity, Efficiency, and Scalability

The financial landscape in Asia is undergoing a seismic shift. Tokenized assets-digital representations of real-world assets on blockchain-are no longer a niche experiment but a mainstream force. From tokenized gold to meme-based playable assets, the region's adoption curve is accelerating at an unprecedented pace. For investors, this is the moment to act. The convergence of liquidity, efficiency, and scalability in tokenized funds is unlocking opportunities that traditional markets cannot match.

The Explosive Growth of Tokenized Assets in Asia

Asia's tokenized assets market has surged from a speculative curiosity to a $230 billion juggernaut by August 2025, expanding 69% since 2023, according to a Coinotag report. Ethereum's tokenized gold holdings alone have more than doubled to $2.7 billion, signaling a growing trust in blockchain as a secure infrastructure for asset representation; the same Coinotag piece highlights this growth. This growth isn't just about commodities. Platforms like ANOME Protocol are redefining creativity and commerce by tokenizing internet culture. Their AnoMEME feature, built on BNB Smart Chain, allows users to create, customize, and monetize memes as hybrid fungible/NFT assets, blending Web3 utility with viral appeal, as described in ANOME's press release.

Meanwhile, global giants are betting big. Coinbase's $375 million acquisition of Echo-a crypto investment platform-underscores the industry's pivot toward tokenized assets. Echo's Sonar platform will integrate into Coinbase's ecosystem to streamline fundraising for blockchain projects, offering digital-first investors tools to participate in private and public token sales with unprecedented ease, according to an Analytics Insight article.

Liquidity, Efficiency, and Scalability: The Trifecta of Tokenized Funds

Tokenized assets are solving age-old problems of illiquidity and inefficiency. Consider Singapore, where 37% of asset managers had launched tokenization projects by 2024, according to a Kapronasia analysis. Platforms like ADDX are tokenizing real estate, enabling fractional ownership and instant cross-border transactions. A property in Jakarta that once took months to sell can now be traded in seconds, with proceeds distributed automatically via smart contracts.

Efficiency gains are equally transformative. The Philippines, a retail-driven market, has seen tokenized stablecoins revolutionize remittances. Workers sending money home via blockchain platforms bypass traditional banking delays and fees, achieving near-instant transfers at a fraction of the cost, as highlighted in a Milken Institute report. For digital-first investors, this means access to high-velocity, low-cost markets that traditional infrastructure cannot replicate.

Scalability, meanwhile, is being driven by institutional-grade solutions. IBM's Digital Asset Haven platform, launching in Q4 2025, offers secure custody and yield generation across 40 blockchains, targeting U.S. institutions but with clear implications for Asia's growing demand for institutional-grade tokenization, per a Coinotag analysis. This infrastructure bridges the gap between retail and institutional markets, creating a flywheel effect that accelerates adoption.

Digital-First Investors: The New Power Brokers

Asia's digital-first investors are not passive observers-they're active shapers of the tokenized economy. In Singapore, over 25% of the population holds digital assets, supported by a regulatory framework that balances innovation with security, a point also noted by the Milken Institute. Hong Kong's Virtual Asset Trading Platform Framework has further catalyzed growth, with crypto volume surging 85.6% year-over-year, according to the same Milken Institute analysis.

These investors are drawn to tokenized assets for their programmability and interoperability. The ERC-404 standard, for instance, allows tokens to function as both fungible and non-fungible assets, enabling use cases from gaming to finance; ANOME's announcement outlines how the standard powers hybrid assets. For a Gen Z investor in Seoul, this means buying a tokenized piece of a K-pop album, earning yield from its streaming royalties, and trading it on a decentralized exchange-all within a single platform.

Challenges and the Path Forward

No revolution is without friction. Tokenization faces hurdles in regulatory clarity, technological integration, and security risks. Yet, the region's rapid adoption suggests these challenges are being met with innovation. Singapore's Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is already licensing institutional-grade tokenization platforms, while Hong Kong's tax incentives are attracting global talent.

For investors, the key is to act now. Tokenized funds offer a gateway to this future, combining the liquidity of stocks with the scalability of blockchain. As Ethereum's tokenized gold and ANOME's meme-based assets demonstrate, the next wave of wealth creation is being built on digital rails.

Conclusion

Asia's tokenized assets market is no longer a speculative bet-it's a $230 billion reality. With liquidity, efficiency, and scalability at its core, this ecosystem is redefining how value is created, transferred, and stored. For digital-first investors, the question isn't if to participate, but how soon. The tools are here. The infrastructure is scaling. The moment? It's now.