Tokenisation has become one of the defining themes in global asset management this year. Major markets across North America, Europe and Asia have moved from tentative trials to meaningful deployment, with fund managers beginning to see real gains in distribution and operating efficiency. For Australia’s asset management community, the tone has shifted too. What once felt hypothetical is now practical, with regulators, market operators and institutions actively preparing for a tokenised financial future.
The global attention is understandable. As Calastone’s research shows, asset managers internationally expect tokenisation to reduce operating costs by more than twenty per cent, streamline processes across the fund lifecycle and accelerate the time-to-market for new products.
The early success of tokenised money market funds overseas has reinforced this global shift. In Australia, money market funds have never played the same systemic role they do in the United States or Europe, largely because banks have long fulfilled the functions MMFs serve elsewhere. Still, interest is growing at the margins – particularly among super funds exploring tokenised liquidity tools – though it is unlikely to be the first large-scale application of tokenisation in the Australian market.
A Regulatory Foundation Takes Shape
What is becoming clear is that Australia’s tokenisation journey will be propelled by the intersection of regulation, real-world pilots and industry demand. The past few months have been especially significant for creating the regulatory foundation that the industry has long sought.
In late October, ASIC released long-awaited guidance clarifying how existing laws apply to digital assets. The update makes explicit that stablecoins, wrapped tokens, tokenised securities and even digital asset wallets fall within the definition of financial products, meaning issuers and service providers will require Australian Financial Services Licences. ASIC’s decision to introduce a sector-wide no-action position until June next year provides much-needed breathing room, allowing businesses to adjust to the new framework while preparing for future reforms.
ASIC’s message was unambiguous. Tokenisation is now part of the financial system’s next phase, and innovation must sit within clear guardrails. This theme was reinforced at the ASIC Annual Forum in November, where Chair Joe Longo stated that Australia must “innovate or stagnate” as global financial markets undergo structural change. Tokenisation was named specifically among the technologies reshaping the landscape, alongside artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Few moments in recent years have signalled so clearly that digital finance is moving from the margins to the mainstream of regulatory thinking.
Project Acacia Becomes a Pivotal Testbed
If policy clarity sets the direction, the most powerful catalyst this year has been Project Acacia.
Announced in July by the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre, Acacia represents one of the most significant digital-asset initiatives undertaken in Australia. Twenty-four use cases were selected, including nineteen real-money pilots, spanning tokenised fixed income, private markets, carbon credits and trade receivables. These pilots will test settlement using stablecoins, bank deposit tokens and a pilot wholesale central bank digital currency across both private and public-permissioned distributed-ledger networks. ASIC has provided tailored regulatory relief so that these transactions can be conducted responsibly and at scale.
The impact of Acacia extends beyond the technical exercise. For the first time, asset managers, banks and market infrastructure providers are exploring the mechanics of tokenised settlement side-by-side, under conditions that closely resemble real-world operations. The findings, due in early 2026, will influence how institutions approach liquidity, counterparty workflows and future investment product design. Acacia is, in effect, the first coordinated attempt to understand how a tokenised wholesale market might function in practice.
Early Applications Emerging for Australian Asset Managers
While the outcomes of these pilots are still months away, the direction of industry inquiry is becoming clearer. Asset managers are increasingly focused on use cases where tokenisation solves tangible problems: reducing administrative friction in private markets; simplifying capital calls and distribution flows; enabling faster, more efficient settlement; and improving access to asset classes traditionally limited by minimum lot sizes. These are areas where tokenisation’s operational benefits can be felt immediately, without requiring a full redesign of legacy systems.
The managed investment industry is also expressing growing interest in tokenised assets as a way to enhance engagement, reporting and operational efficiency. Tokenised units can embed smart-contract logic that automates processes traditionally handled manually. Industry academics and practitioners alike have highlighted that the most significant gains may lie not only in cost reduction but in capital efficiency.
Superannuation funds are beginning to examine tokenisation not just as an investment opportunity but as infrastructure. Early signals from leading funds suggest an appetite to explore tokenised cash equivalents, real-time settlement models and improved intra-day liquidity visibility. While adoption will be measured, the interest itself marks a meaningful shift: tokenisation is increasingly viewed as a way to enhance system-level efficiency.
Distribution as a Strategic Catalyst
The distribution dimension is also playing an increasingly important role internationally. Tokenisation allows asset managers to make existing funds available on-chain without altering their underlying structure, providing a faster route to market and enabling access to new digital-native investor channels. Tokenised access can support cross-border flows, deepen engagement with global platforms and strengthen operational agility at a time when distribution is becoming a critical differentiator.
Looking Ahead: A More Connected Market
The long-term potential of tokenisation extends far beyond efficiency. Speaking at the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit in Hong Kong, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink argued that Bitcoin, tokenisation and AI are now central to the next phase of market structure, predicting that tokenised funds and other real-world assets will make markets more efficient, transparent and inclusive. His comments underscore a broader shift: the world’s largest asset managers are preparing for a financial system built on shared digital infrastructure, where investors move seamlessly between traditional securities and tokenised instruments.
Australia is well positioned to benefit from this evolution. It has a sophisticated asset-management sector, deep pools of long-term capital and regulators increasingly committed to enabling responsible innovation. With ASIC’s updated guidance, Project Acacia’s real-world pilots and growing institutional interest, tokenisation is shifting decisively from theory to capability.
