Tokenization's shift from experiment to infrastructure in 2025 rests on five converging advances: transaction speeds reaching 10,000+ TPS, institutional custody solutions from State Street and BNY Mellon, regulatory frameworks across 50+ jurisdictions, security standards proven through billions in transactions, and interoperability protocols enabling cross-chain asset movement.
The Year the Plumbing Arrived
For years, tokenization's promise outpaced its infrastructure. The thesis was compelling: represent any asset as a digital token, enable instant transfer, unlock fractional ownership. But the execution environment remained primitive—slow networks, inadequate custody, regulatory ambiguity. Then came 2025, and everything changed at once.
The transformation wasn't a single breakthrough but the simultaneous maturation of five critical systems. Each had been developing independently; in 2025, they converged to create an environment where institutional deployment finally made operational sense.
Consider transaction capacity alone. Early blockchain networks processed perhaps 15 transactions per second—adequate for crypto trading but laughable for capital markets. Ethereum's transition to proof-of-stake and the emergence of Layer 2 solutions pushed theoretical capacity past 100,000 TPS. More importantly, purpose-built networks like Goldman's Canton achieved consistent throughput for institutional-scale operations. When JPMorgan's Onyx platform began processing $2 trillion monthly in Treasury repo, the infrastructure question was answered.
The Five Pillars of Institutional Infrastructure
Transaction Speed and Scalability: Modern tokenization platforms process thousands of transactions per second with sub-second finality. Goldman's Canton Network operates at institutional scale. Ethereum Layer 2 solutions provide throughput exceeding traditional settlement systems. The bottleneck shifted from network capacity to business adoption.
Institutional Custody: State Street ($43 trillion AUM) and BNY Mellon ($46 trillion in custody) built dedicated digital asset custody operations. Fireblocks processes $5+ trillion annually through MPC-secured infrastructure. The question of "who holds the keys" now has answers that satisfy institutional risk committees.
Regulatory Clarity: The EU's MiCA created uniform rules across 27 member states. Singapore established clear licensing pathways. The SEC clarified treatment of tokenized securities. Switzerland, UAE, and Hong Kong followed with enabling frameworks. Over 50 jurisdictions now have some form of tokenization regulation.
Security Standards: Multiple smart contract auditing firms established institutional-grade review processes. Insurance products emerged for digital asset custody. Billions in value transacted through audited protocols without major exploits. The security track record, while not perfect, reached levels acceptable to institutional risk frameworks.
Interoperability: Chainlink CCIP enabled secure cross-chain messaging. LayerZero and Wormhole provided bridging infrastructure. The vision of assets moving seamlessly between networks—still imperfect—progressed far enough to enable practical multi-chain strategies.
Infrastructure Assessment: The five pillars represent necessary but not sufficient conditions. Speed without custody solves nothing. Regulation without interoperability creates fragmented markets. Organizations evaluating tokenization must assess capability across all five dimensions—weakness in any single area creates systemic risk for deployment.
What This Means for Implementation
The infrastructure revolution shifts the strategic calculus. Previously, tokenization deployment meant accepting significant operational risk from immature systems. Today, the infrastructure risk—while not zero—is manageable for organizations with appropriate expertise.
The new challenges are organizational, not technical. Building the internal capabilities to evaluate platforms, manage custody relationships, navigate regulatory requirements, and operate tokenized positions requires expertise most traditional finance teams lack. The infrastructure exists; the question is whether your organization can utilize it.
Assess Your Infrastructure Readiness
GSC evaluates organizational capability across all five infrastructure dimensions for institutions planning tokenization deployment.
Schedule a ConsultationFor the C-Suite: 2025 marked the transition from "infrastructure risk" to "capability risk." The plumbing works. The question is whether your organization has the expertise to use it. Building that capability takes 12-18 months—organizations starting now will be operational when the market accelerates; those waiting may find themselves permanently behind.