The APAC economy, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and Japan, is accelerating real-world asset (RWA) tokenization through regulatory reforms and adoption of live markets.
Regulation change and market dynamics
Important reason: Tokenization connects the issuance, payments, and custody of shared digital infrastructure, improving payment finality and auditability. It reduces capital costs, increases custody transparency, and enables a secondary market 24/7.
As tokenization improves cross-border payments, trade funding, speed and transparency, APAC’s policy diversity can expand the options for issuing local currency, including Chinese yuan, but USD liquidity remains a hub. The multicurrency model allows for a new combination of Forex hedging and credit enhancements.
Latest updates:
Singapore is expanding its standardization and interoperability workstream of bond, forex and fund management under the MAS Project Guardian. Hong Kong will continue to issue multi-currency digital bonds (HKMA press release) and will use digital bond grant scheme information to attract individual transactions. Australia is working on project Acacia updates from ASIC under the RBA-DFCRC, combining live pilots and proof of concept. Japan’s FSA continues to outline the market development of STOs and digital securities through its FSA speech and published material.
Overall, general priorities are enforcement of “same risks, same rules”, interoperability of the ledger from the readiness, KYC/conformance/reporting adjustments, and central bank money availability. For individuals engaged via Defi, understanding wallet connections, gas fees, and robust KYC is still essential (Japanese residents must act within domestic legal boundaries).
Interoperability enables East-West Finance Systems
Background Context: The first RWA adoption wave is driven by bonds whose transparency and traceability have expanded their investor base, particularly the US Treasury Department. The MAS Project Guardian Hub in Singapore is a public and transnational hub. Hong Kong is actively issuing government digital bonds to lead market formation. Australia uses live pilots to identify operational frictions, while Japan will gradually expand by leveraging existing investor protection frameworks.
“Currently, the outstanding amount of digital securities is around 140 billion yen.” (Japan FSA – Finn/Total 2025 Keynote speech by Commissioner Ito)
Beincrypto reported that China’s major financial institutions are entering the $30 trillion RWA market. RWA activities are also rising in the XRPL and BNB chains through tokenized financial and real estate products. These developments demonstrate the emergence of wider institutional participation and the multi-chain infrastructure beyond Ethereum.
Historical precedent: Early pilot results were more about redesigning the operational and auditing processes than immediate improvements in liquidity. National Pilot is working on instant payments, asset-level title transfers, and smart contract governance, addressing backend challenges one by one.
Geopolitical implications: The “dual rail” link between Eastern and Western financial systems is plausible when interoperability standards solidify. However, concerns about custody, compliance costs, and data sovereignty remain important bottlenecks.
On the private side, prominent asset managers, commercial banks and infrastructure providers are expanding their participation. It is important that the US Treasury Department, sovereign digital bonds, and tokenized funds accumulate use cases and bridge the issuance and distribution and urban gaps through shared ledgers and API connections.
Interoperability, data location and sovereignty matters
See what’s ahead: Key areas of focus include connections with central bank money (wholesale rather than retail), consistent accounting and tax treatment, depth of secondary markets, price reliability, and consensus on interoperability standards (messaging, identity, data models).
Possible risks: Questions remain regarding interoperability gaps, inconsistent KYC/AML and conformance enforcement, operational risks of smart contracts, and data location and sovereignty.
“As of the cutoff of the report on May 31, 2025, only three DLT MIS have been approved under the DLT pilot system.” (ESMA Report on DLTR Features and Reviews – Art.14)
The Post Asia-Pacific region proceeded with RWA tokenization in 2025.
