Real Assets in the Tokenized Era: Rethinking Infrastructure and Real Estate

In the world of finance, few shifts are as profound as the quiet revolution happening in how we think about ownership. Infrastructure and real estate—once defined by illiquidity, opacity, and high barriers to entry—are being reimagined through the lens of tokenization. The convergence of blockchain technology and real assets is not just a financial innovation; it represents a structural transformation in how capital is raised, managed, and distributed globally.

The Promise of Tokenization

Tokenization converts the ownership rights of real-world assets—such as buildings, toll roads, energy projects, or logistics facilities—into digital tokens recorded on a blockchain. Each token can represent a fraction of ownership, enabling investors to buy, sell, or trade interests in assets that were traditionally reserved for large institutions or ultra-high-net-worth investors.

According to a report by Boston Consulting Group, the market for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) could exceed $16 trillion by 2030, spanning real estate, infrastructure, commodities, and private credit. This surge reflects a growing belief that digital markets can unlock liquidity, transparency, and accessibility in asset classes that have long been capital-intensive and slow-moving.

Infrastructure in a Digital Wrapper

Infrastructure investments have always been the backbone of long-term portfolios—stable, yield-generating, but illiquid. Tokenization challenges that paradigm. Imagine a renewable energy project or a smart port where investors can trade fractional ownership stakes as easily as stocks. This isn’t speculative fiction; it’s already underway.

In Europe as well as Asia Pacific, projects with green bond tokenization pilot have shown how blockchain-based issuance can streamline capital raising, lower costs, and increase participation. Similarly, in Asia and the Middle East, tokenized infrastructure funds are emerging to attract cross-border investors without the friction of intermediaries or settlement delays.

In Hong Kong, the government issued an HK$800 million tokenized green bond in collaboration with HSBC, Goldman Sachs, and the Bank of China under the Green Bond Programme—one of the first large-scale sovereign tokenizations. The BIS Innovation Hub and Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) have jointly built a blockchain-based green bond prototype that integrates real-time environmental impact data into the bond lifecycle.

Similarly, in Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), under Project Guardian, has worked with partners like UOB and Northern Trust to tokenize green bond certificates, paving the way for institutional-grade ESG transparency.

For sovereign funds and institutional investors, this means an entirely new liquidity framework—one where holding periods shorten, valuations become more dynamic, and exit optionality increases.

Real Estate’s Next Chapter

Real estate tokenization is even further along the curve. The past few years have seen digital property exchanges emerge in markets like Singapore, Switzerland, and the UAE. These platforms allow investors to hold fractional interests in commercial buildings, logistics centers, or co-living developments, complete with on-chain rental income distribution and governance rights.

A prominent example is SDAX in Singapore, which listed tokenized real estate assets compliant with Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) regulations. In Dubai, Virtuzone and Realiste are experimenting with AI-driven property valuation models combined with blockchain-based ownership transfer systems—signaling that regulatory frameworks are catching up with innovation.

For investors, tokenization means access to global property markets without the traditional costs or friction of cross-border investing. For asset owners, it unlocks new ways to raise capital, diversify investor bases, and enhance price discovery.

Valuation in the Tokenized World

Tokenization does not eliminate the need for robust valuation; it amplifies it. The digital layer adds liquidity and transparency, but the underlying asset fundamentals still drive value. In fact, tokenized assets introduce new valuation complexities—liquidity premiums, on-chain trading volumes, and token holder concentration all affect pricing.

At Epoch Ventures, we observe growing demand for hybrid valuation frameworks that combine traditional DCF and NAV models with token market analytics. For example, a tokenized logistics hub might require assessing both cash flow stability and token trading liquidity to derive its effective market value. This dual-lens approach—finance meets fintech—is where valuation expertise becomes strategic.

Challenges Ahead

Despite its promise, tokenization faces hurdles. Regulatory clarity remains uneven across jurisdictions; investor protection standards vary; and secondary markets are still nascent. Cybersecurity, smart contract risks, and governance of decentralized systems are equally critical considerations.

Moreover, tokenization’s success depends on trust—trust in data integrity, asset custody, and transparent reporting. This means valuation professionals, auditors, and financial advisors have an expanded role to play in bridging traditional assurance with blockchain-native systems.

The Road Ahead: Real Assets, Real Innovation

As real assets enter the tokenized era, infrastructure and real estate are becoming digitally liquid—but not digitally detached from fundamentals. Tokenization won’t replace the need for sound project economics, disciplined capital allocation, or governance. Instead, it enhances them by democratizing participation and improving efficiency.

The future of asset management lies in the convergence of real assets and digital infrastructure. Just as the industrial age built bridges and railroads, the digital age is building bridges of capital—connecting investors and opportunities with speed, transparency, and scale never seen before.

For investors and developers alike, the question is no longer if tokenization will reshape the market—but how quickly they’ll adapt to stay ahead of it.