The buzz around “tokenization” – the concept of transforming tangible assets like real estate or art into digital tokens on distributed ledgers – isn’t just hype anymore; it’s hitting its stride. From the halls of financial institutions to the forward-thinking strategies of central banks and even the everyday dynamics of commercial markets, a powerful current is pulling us toward a new frontier of money. Make no mistake: We’re not just witnessing an evolution. The global financial system is reaching a major turning point.

Yet, while digital assets are speeding ahead, the tech and regulatory frameworks behind them aren’t keeping up. Each blockchain still operates with its own governance, standards and compliance assumptions. This fragmentation imposes real-world frictions. Asset transfers become inefficient, liquidity is trapped in isolated ledgers, and regulatory visibility is hampered. Left unchecked, we risk replicating the very bottlenecks that tokenization was meant to solve.

Regulatory frameworks remain a patchwork of jurisdiction-specific rules that struggle to adapt to decentralized infrastructures. Without harmonized standards, regulators face significant challenges in monitoring digital financial activity, enforcing compliance and fostering innovation safely. Market participants, in turn, are left navigating inconsistent or unclear expectations, which stifles adoption and increases operational risks.

That’s where interoperability – the communication between different systems – steps in. Not just as a technical upgrade, but as the connective tissue for regulated and scalable digital economies. Interoperability makes it easier to build compliance, identity checks and cross-border rules directly into how assets move. This will help bring order to a fragmented system and keep everything aligned with public policy.

Early efforts to tackle blockchain fragmentation relied on “bridges”, usually third-party tools, for value transfer between networks. While bridges helped connect ecosystems, most weren’t built for scale, security or decentralization. The millions lost in cyberattacks, like the Harmony Bridge Hack in 2022, make that painfully clear. These failures highlight the urgency of moving toward secure, policy-aligned frameworks that enable true interoperability.

Today, we’re seeing a shift. Next-gen cross-chain messaging protocols don’t just shuttle assets; they enable smart contracts on one chain to trigger actions on another, share data seamlessly and move tokens without exposing them to added risk. For institutions operating in high-stakes environments, that’s a game-changer.

For financial institutions, security isn’t optional, it’s foundational. And tokenized assets like digital bonds, deposits and funds demand infrastructure that delivers compliance, resilience and auditability by design.

That’s why protocols like Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) are drawing attention. With security tools like message filtering, rate limits and decentralized oracles, CCIP enables tokenized assets, like standardized Ethereum-based ERC-20s, to move securely across chains such as Ethereum and Hedera. Standards such as ERC-7641 are further streamlining token behaviour across networks, reducing friction for institutional use cases.

Major financial institutions are already taking notice. They’re not just testing these systems for performance or cost; they’re evaluating them for deeper foundations of trust such as audit trails, built-in KYC checks, and data integrity. For example the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) pushes interoperability through Project Nexus, which links domestic payment systems across borders with embedded compliance features. Singapore’s central bank is also exploring paths similar to Project Mariana and Project Guardian, both rooted in decentralized frameworks and tokenized finance.

Global giants like JPMorgan Chase (JPMC) (via Kinexys, previously known as Onyx) and SWIFT are also testing blockchain integration models that blend trustless execution with regulatory oversight. This month, JPMC completed a public on-chain transaction with the help of Chainlink’s CCIP and Ondo. This marks a notable shift, as JPMC had previously operated solely on private blockchain infrastructure. This signals that highly regulated institutions, once hesitant to solely rely on public blockchains, are now embracing public infrastructure without compromising compliance or security, paving the way for faster innovation and digital transformation.

These projects also reflect a broader trend toward global coordination on interoperable standards. Whether driven by public-private consortia or multilateral bodies, the aim remains to build a legal and technical foundation for tokenized finance that is inclusive and designed for cross-border use.

One major driver of innovation is the emergence of hybrid sandbox environments. These settings combine permissioned networks’ privacy with public blockchains’ openness. That mix lets institutions test smart contracts, decentralized apps (DApps), and tokenized assets in real-world scenarios, like digital bond issuance or cross-border settlement.

Hybrid sandboxes give banks, asset managers and regulators a controlled environment to test and scale innovations. By enabling real-world trials of digital bonds, tokenized deposits and cross-border settlement mechanisms, these architectures provide a clear path from pilot to production. They offer a safe space for risk modelling and iterative regulatory design, without sacrificing transparency or scalability.

The future of finance demands secure, interoperable infrastructure. Without that foundation, tokenization risks remaining a niche experiment instead of becoming a global transformation. Interoperability is no longer just about making systems communicate. It has become a strategic policy challenge. The success of tokenized finance will depend not only on technical capability, but also on how well it upholds accountability, fairness and systemic integrity.

We can build that foundation by aligning cross-chain messaging, open standards like CCIP and ERC 7641, and global regulatory frameworks. This is what enables governments, regulators and institutions to understand, trust and guide digital interactions. That is the groundwork for secure, compliant and production-ready digital finance.

The bottom line? Interoperability is no longer a “nice-to-have”. It is the foundation that will define whether global finance becomes programmable, resilient and accessible – or gets left behind. Institutions and regulators must treat interoperability as a geopolitical and institutional strategic priority, enabling seamless liquidity and sustainable innovation across the digital economy.

https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/05/digital-finance-assets-interoperability/