US Banks Prepare for Digitized Finance as Tokenization Gains Momentum, Moody’s Says

Major US banks and financial market intermediaries believe the transition to a digitized financial system will begin gradually before accelerating quickly, according to a recent report from Moody’s Ratings.

After discussions with banks and financial firms, Moody’s said most industry leaders see broad asset tokenization as unavoidable. However, uncertainty remains over how fast adoption will happen and which sectors will lead the shift.

“Across our conversations, industry leaders generally believed that broad asset tokenization will happen; the main uncertainties center around how quickly and in what sequence,” Moody’s said.

The report noted that early progress will likely remain focused on simpler financial products, including funds and short-term instruments, while traditional financial systems continue operating alongside digital infrastructure. Still, many institutions expect a tipping point where adoption rapidly expands across more assets and use cases.

Traditional Financial Firms Are Already Preparing

Although tokenization activity is still limited, banks are actively laying the groundwork for wider adoption. Moody’s said most current activity comes from cryptocurrency trading, cross-border retail payments and a small number of institutional use cases.

“Almost all large banks and major financial market intermediaries have established dedicated digital-asset teams or innovation units,” Moody’s said, explaining that firms want to avoid being caught unprepared if market demand suddenly rises.

In January, Morgan Stanley appointed Amy Oldenburg to lead its new crypto unit shortly after announcing plans for crypto exchange-traded funds and a crypto wallet.

Tokenized Assets Continue Rapid Growth

The tokenized real world asset market has grown by more than 420% since early 2025 and is now valued at $31.6 billion, showing rising institutional interest in blockchain-based finance.