What are the 6 main types of tokenized assets?

What are the 6 main types of tokenized assets?

Put most directly, a tokenized asset is something one can own whose ownership has been made trackable through a digital representation on a blockchain network. A full explanation for what tokenized assets are can be found here. Currently, there are six main categories of tokenized assets: stablecoins, financial assets, real-world assets, intellectual property (IP), services/time, and event contracts. Here's a breakdown of all six types, their prevalence, and the key things you should know about each.

Stablecoins

Stablecoins are tokenized versions of currencies. They are used to take actions on blockchain networks in that currency.

For example, say you want to hold $5 of value on a blockchain network. You cannot hold 5 $1 bills on a blockchain network. They are physical paper. Instead, you need something that exists on that blockchain network. That's where the token, or "coin," concept comes in handy. But tokens can move in value relative to the US dollar, just like stocks. This is where the stable comes in. You need something that stays equal in value to the US dollar, or is "pegged" to the US dollar.

You can imagine extending, or swapping, this concept to a number of other currencies. While the largest stablecoins are US dollar stablecoins, there are also stablecoins that operate as tokenized Euros, Japanese Yen, British pounds, and more.

Historically, there have been two categories of stablecoins. The first category is known as 1:1-backed stablecoins. These use actual holdings of the currency, currency equivalents, and other steady stores of value to maintain their peg. Roughly speaking, they take actual US dollars, hold them in an account off of blockchain networks, and put a matching value of tokens on to a blockchain network. There are now several large, trusted US dollar stablecoins of this category. USDC, USDT, and PYUSD are some of the most widely used examples.

The second category has a troubled history. This category is known as "algostables," or algorithmic stablecoins. Instead of using real reserves to maintain a value peg, the issuers of these tokens have tried to maintain their value using algorithms. While there are exceptions, algorithmic stablecoins have had difficulty maintaining their stability during market downturns. While they are not outlawed in the United States per se, recent regulatory changes have made them clearly disfavored.

To summarize, stablecoins are a type of tokenized asset that can be used to hold value and take actions in a particular currency on blockchains. For those who are newer to blockchain technologies, trusted stablecoins regulated by United States law can be a good way to experience the benefits of blockchain for the first time.

While the regulatory landscape for stablecoins is still evolving, recently passed US law has set out a clear path for everyday consumers to use 1:1-backed US dollar stablecoins from US issuers without worry about their stability. With them, you can enjoy instant transfers, near-instant exchanges to assets you might find interesting, and the novelty of "self-custody." Read more about self-custody here.

Financial assets

Financial assets include tokenized versions of stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and other such assets people have historically had to buy through a broker. That is, tokenized financial assets are, generally, tokens that represent ownership of a security.

As with stablecoins, there are multiple approaches to the tokenization of financial assets, at least in theory. In practice, 1:1-backed tokenized financial assets are most common and intuitive. Tokenized stocks, specifically 1:1-backed tokenized stocks, are the best example.

Tokenized stocks include tokens like NVDAX, APPLX, TSLAX, SPYX, and more. Each of these is the trading symbol for a tokenized stock issued by Backed Finance through its "xStocks" product line. They are, respectively, tokenized versions of Nvidia stock, Apple stock, Tesla stock, and an index fund ETF.

As of the beginning of 2026, tokenized financial assets are the type of tokenized asset evolving the most. That evolution included increasing availability and coverage for consumers, regulatory guidance, and norms. While one token of NVDAX should be backed 1:1 by a share of Nvidia stock, the law and norms around dividends, interest, and corporate voting rights are evolving. Just as with any financial asset, tokenized or not, you should review all disclosures and otherwise exercise appropriate caution before purchasing.

Tokenized financial assets like tokenized stocks have core blockchain network features. This includes 24/7 trading, faster settlement, and composability with decentralized finance (DeFi). And, unlike old-school financial assets, they can be self-custodied.

Real-World Assets (RWAs)

Tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) are tokenized versions of physical objects like real estate, commodities, and art. Common examples of underlying assets for tokenized RWAs are an apartment building, a gold bar, or a painting. Tokenized RWAs have tokens representing ownership of the underlying asset.

A famous, somewhat humorous example of an RWA was the 2021 "ConstitutionDAO" effort. A group of crypto enthusiasts, under the ConstitutionDAO moniker, raised 10s of millions of dollars to bid, at an auction, on an original copy of the US Constitution. As laid out, the plan would have resulted in those who submitted funds for the effort receiving their pro rata ownership of that copy of the US Constitution if the effort won the auction. That ownership was to come in the form of a token issued on the Ethereum network, one of the largest blockchain networks.

The effort was unsuccessful, as a multi-billionaire swooped in to outbid the group effort. However, this novel effort would have resulted in a simple mechanism for many people to own something that was totally inaccessible to them individually. With the use of this blockchain approach, the token would have also featured everything inherent to tokens on blockchain networks, from self-custody to 24/7 ability to buy or sell with near instant settlement.

In summary, tokenized RWAs are, generally, tokenized versions of physical asset ownership. Because the underlying asset is physical, good provenance is of utmost importance. Good provenance can also be highly complicated, or perhaps impossible, to prove. Combined with the lower velocity with which these underlying assets are generally exchanged, this has made tokenized RWAs a less developed type of tokenized asset as of early 2026.

Intellectual property (IP)

Tokenized intellectual property (IP), in general, represents ownership of IP. Most commonly, this can be a share of future royalties or licensing revenue from that IP. The underlying asset is legal right like copyright, patent right, or trademark right.

The concept of tokenized IP has generated the most buzz among people like artists, musicians, writers, and those in similar professions. The path to monetizing their work, or more accurately the IP rights that can come from their work, is complex. Some have proposed tokenization of this IP as a solution. Instead of working through record labels or publishers, who have the resources to navigate the traditional legal systems and ownership deals required to monetize IP, people can use tokenization to achieve a connection between usage and payment.

In summary, tokenized IP represents ownership of IP or future revenue streams from IP. Existing IP behemoths and challenges with ensuring good provenance have left tokenized IP as a less-developed type of tokenized asset.

Services and time

Tokenized services and time are the most experimental type of tokenized asset. Instead of representing ownership of what people think of as an "asset" in traditional markets, tokenized services and time represent access to a person’s time or attention.

An example is access to exclusive group chats for token holders. In these systems, social access is the tokenized asset. Holding the token provides access to an online group or club. Members can sell, and non-members can buy, into club for the right price.

Again, this is the most experimental type of tokenized asset. The concept is that one can buy, hold, and sell services or time through a token. As with all tokenized assets, provenance is of utmost importance. In this case, demand for the underlying asset is also a key question.

Event contracts (prediction markets)

Tokenized event contracts, more commonly known as tokenized prediction markets, are tokens whose payoff depends on if a real-world event happens or not. These events are often elections, sports outcomes or interest-rate decisions. The token represents the right to an event contract. Event contracts are generally binary contracts evaluating to "yes" or "no". When an event has concluded contract holders get $1 if the are right and $0 if they are wrong. For example, in the 2024 general election, if you bought a "yes" token for Donald Trump then you would have gotten $1 per "yes" token held.

Prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket are the most well known in the prediction markets space. In late 2025, Kalshi’s markets were bridged to Solana via partners like DFlow and Jupiter. These tokenized event contracts operate like any other token on the Solana blockchain. They trade 24/7 and are fully non-custodial.

Researchers and builders, including Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin, have argued that prediction markets can serve as powerful information aggregators, pricing in collective beliefs about future events more efficiently than polls. At the same time, they raise unique regulatory and ethical questions, especially when the underlying events are political, sensitive, or easily influenced.

Summary

All of these categories stablecoins, financial assets, RWAs, IP, services/time, and event contracts follow the same basic pattern. You start with an underlying asset or right, you define an issuer or mechanism that links a token to that underlying, and then you have a powerful asset, only bounded only by the rules of the blockchain.

The interesting differences show up in the details: what the underlying is (cash, stock, building, book, time, or event payoff), how hard it is to enforce rights offchain, how regulators treat the structure, and how much users actually want to hold or trade the token. Understanding these categories makes it easier to evaluate any new tokenized products one might see.