Morgan Stanley Delays Tokenized Equity Support to Q1 2027, Eyes $10 Trillion RWA Market

Morgan Stanley's planned tokenized equity support on its alternative trading system and its projected $3 trillion to $10 trillion tokenized RWA market by 2030.

Morgan Stanley now expects to begin supporting tokenized equities on its alternative trading system in the first quarter of 2027, pushing back its previous target of the second half of 2026 as the bank continues to prepare the infrastructure required for the initiative.

According to Wu Blockchain The Block, Amy Oldenburg, Morgan Stanley's head of digital asset strategy, confirmed the revised timeline. She said the bank is still working on the necessary infrastructure and noted that client demand for tokenized equity products remains limited, partly because these offerings are not yet widely available.

Morgan Stanley Revises Its Tokenized Equity Timeline

The move from the second half of 2026 to Q1 2027 represents a delay in Morgan Stanley's planned support for tokenized equities. The initiative is expected to operate through the bank's alternative trading system, a trading venue that provides an alternative to traditional stock exchanges.

Tokenized equities represent shares or equity-related interests through digital tokens recorded on a blockchain. Depending on their structure, these products can potentially connect conventional financial assets with blockchain-based trading and settlement infrastructure.

However, Morgan Stanley's revised schedule indicates that the bank is still preparing the systems needed to support the products. Oldenburg's comments also point to a market in which client demand remains constrained while tokenized equity offerings have yet to achieve broad availability.

The bank has not, in the reported remarks, provided a specific explanation for the schedule change beyond the ongoing infrastructure preparations and the current state of client demand. The revised target is therefore best understood as an updated implementation timeline rather than confirmation that tokenized equity trading is already available through the system.

Tokenized Real-World Assets Could Reach $10 Trillion by 2030

Despite the near-term challenges facing tokenized equities, Oldenburg expressed a significantly larger long-term outlook for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). She expects the tokenized RWA markets to reach between $3 trillion and $10 trillion by 2030.

Real-world asset tokenization involves representing assets from traditional financial markets and the broader economy as blockchain-based tokens. The category can include financial instruments and other assets, although the specific composition of the projected market was not detailed in the reported comments.

Oldenburg's forecast places tokenized RWAs at a potentially substantial scale by the end of the decade. However, the projected range is an expectation rather than a confirmed market outcome, and the reported remarks do not specify the assumptions, measurement methodology or starting market value behind the estimate.

The distinction between the long-term projection and Morgan Stanley's immediate plans is important. While the bank anticipates significant potential for tokenized real-world assets by 2030, its own tokenized equity support remains under development, with the latest target set for the first quarter of 2027.

For now, Morgan Stanley's timeline and Oldenburg's market forecast illustrate two separate aspects of the tokenization landscape: the infrastructure and availability challenges facing individual financial products, and the possibility of a much larger tokenized real-world asset market by 2030.

Writer: Victoria Hale
Technology & Blockchain Writer

Victoria Hale writes about blockchain technology, digital infrastructure, and the intersection of emerging technologies with finance. Her articles explore how new protocols and systems are shaping the evolving digital economy.

She prioritises clarity and accuracy when explaining technical developments to a general audience.