Real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation — the representation of traditional financial instruments as digital tokens on distributed ledgers — has emerged as the institutional use case that validates a decade of blockchain infrastructure development. Switzerland, and particularly the Canton of Zug, has positioned itself at the centre of this transformation.
The Swiss Advantage
The DLT Act’s creation of ledger-based securities (Registerwertrechte) under Article 973d of the Swiss Code of Obligations provides the legal foundation. For the first time, securities could be issued, transferred, and settled natively on a blockchain with full legal validity — no need for parallel paper documentation or traditional central securities depositories.
This legal innovation, combined with FINMA’s licensing framework for DLT trading facilities, created an end-to-end infrastructure for tokenised securities that few jurisdictions can match. Zug-based companies have built the tokenisation platforms, custody solutions, and secondary market infrastructure that makes this possible.
Market Activity
The SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) has tokenised Swiss government bonds and corporate debt. Private banks are offering tokenised fund units. And real estate tokenisation — long discussed as a theoretical possibility — has seen practical implementation through Zug-based platforms that allow fractional ownership of commercial properties.
The total value of tokenised assets on Swiss-regulated platforms has grown substantially, though precise figures remain difficult to aggregate given the distributed nature of the market. Industry estimates suggest Swiss-regulated tokenised securities exceeded CHF 5 billion in notional value by the end of 2025.
The Institutional Pipeline
The significance of RWA tokenisation for Zug lies in its institutional nature. Unlike DeFi or cryptocurrency trading, tokenisation attracts banks, asset managers, and pension funds — entities that bring large capital flows, stable revenue streams, and long time horizons. This diversifies Zug’s blockchain economy away from dependence on volatile crypto markets.
Several Swiss pension funds have made initial allocations to tokenised bond funds, and private banks in Zurich and Geneva increasingly use Zug-based infrastructure for client access to tokenised assets.
Challenges
Interoperability between tokenisation platforms remains limited. Liquidity in secondary markets for tokenised securities is thin. And the regulatory framework, while advanced by global standards, continues to evolve as new asset classes — private equity, art, intellectual property — seek tokenisation.
Despite these challenges, the trajectory is clear. Tokenisation represents the convergence of traditional finance and blockchain technology, and Zug has established itself as the jurisdiction where this convergence is most advanced.