Tokenized Equities: Morgan Stanley to Launch Support by 2027

Wall Street is set to see its first tokenized equities when Morgan Stanley puts its weight behind them on an alternative trading system in Q1 2027. As a financial titan, the firm is taking what can be seen as a defining step in the push to decentralize assets.

Morgan Stanley’s Roadmap for Tokenized Equities

One might not have expected it from an institution as circumspect with digital assets as Morgan Stanley, yet it is preparing to underwrite tokenized equities on its platform. The Thinking Crypto channel has reported that the introduction will not come until the first quarter of 2027, a date some in the market had expected to be later. It is a sign that major players are coming around to the idea of tokenized assets, even if not leading the pack.

As for the scale of the change in store for conventional finance, Ammy Oldenburg, who heads Digital Assets Strategy at Morgan Stanley, has a forecast. In a statement she made recently, Oldenburg put the potential of the real-world asset (RWA) market at $3 to $10 trillion by 2030 once tokenized equities and similar products become commonplace.

Infrastructure and Security Innovations

Morgan Stanley is putting in place its own wallet infrastructure to make this happen. The arrangement is not fully non-custodial but will give users the ability to keep their tokenized holdings separate, with the security one would expect from an institution and considerable flexibility.

Such security is of paramount concern in the digital asset space. Case in point: Aptos has implemented an encrypted mempool on its blockchain to prevent front-running and sandwich attacks, a measure indicative of how the industry is working to safeguard investors as more tokenized assets emerge.

Broader Industry Moves Toward Tokenization

There are other signs of the current momentum in digital finance. Standard Chartered Bank has made an important move for crypto integration by enabling Ripple’s RUSD stablecoin on LMAX Group’s Dubai platform. And in a development that may well stir up institutional appetite for XRP and similar assets, a company with ties to the asset has recruited an ex-Coinbase executive to take charge of 473 million XRP, according to Thinking Crypto. All part of the accelerating trend to put financial products on the blockchain.