A token on a blockchain can stand for almost anything with a value: a government bill, a share, a house, a gram of gold. We track 4,586 such instruments in 12 types — and the differences between them matter more than the word “token” they share: where the return comes from, how much can go wrong, and who it is aimed at.
Text reviewed September 17, 2026
| Type | Instruments | Yield range | Risk | Typically aimed at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real-world assets | ||||
| Tokenized treasuries & money market funds | 63 | 1.66% – 4.11% | Low | Mostly institutional investors |
| Tokenized stocks & ETFs | 2,217 | none | Like the share itself | Often retail |
| Tokenized bonds | 204 | — | Varies widely | Mostly professional investors |
| Private credit | 712 | 3.00% – 10.00% | Medium to high | Retail and professional |
| Tokenized alternative funds | 269 | 7.56% – 9.00% | Medium to high | Mostly professional investors |
| Real estate | 832 | 3.00% – 10.00% | High | Retail and professional |
| Commodities | 56 | 0.08% – 3.05% | The metal price | Often retail |
| Tokenized money | ||||
| Payment stablecoins | 2 | none | Low | Retail |
| Yield-bearing stablecoins | 218 | 0.78% – 7.70% | Varies widely | Retail and professional |
| Crypto yield — often listed alongside, but not real-world assets | ||||
| Staking tokens | 6 | 2.17% – 6.35% | Crypto price + protocol | Open protocol (DeFi), unregulated |
| DeFi lending | 5 | 3.60% – 4.00% | Crypto price + protocol | Open protocol (DeFi), unregulated |
| CeFi earn | 2 | 4.00% | The platform as counterparty | Often retail |
Short-term US or euro government bills, held in a fund or a legal wrapper whose shares are tokens. The closest thing on a blockchain to a savings account.
A token that tracks one share or ETF — Apple, Nvidia, the S&P 500 — usually backed 1:1 by the real share held with a custodian. You get the price movement and sometimes dividends, but rarely shareholder rights.
Corporate or government bonds issued directly on a blockchain, such as the digital bonds of Société Générale or Santander. A fixed coupon and a maturity, like any other bond.
Loans to companies, funds or fintech lenders, pooled and financed through tokens. Higher yields than government bills — because borrowers can default.
Shares in private-market funds — private credit, private equity — that used to require large tickets. Tokens shrink the unit size, not the eligibility rules.
Fractions of individual rental properties or property companies. On RealT each house sits in its own company whose shares are the tokens; European platforms often use other structures, such as bonds.
Mostly gold: each token stands for a fixed amount of physical metal in a vault, such as PAXG or XAUT. A few cover silver or uranium.
Tokens worth one euro or one dollar, backed by bank deposits and short-term government bills. Under the EU’s MiCA rules they may not pay interest.
Dollar tokens that pass on income from their reserves or from a trading strategy. The label is the same, the risk is not: some hold government bills, others run futures trades.
Receipts for crypto staked to secure a blockchain such as Ethereum or Solana. Not a real-world asset: the value moves with the crypto price.
Lending crypto or stablecoins through smart-contract protocols such as Aave. Borrowers post more collateral than they borrow.
Interest programmes run by crypto platforms and exchanges. You hand your coins to the platform and carry its risk.
Assets that exist outside the blockchain — government bills, shares, bonds, loans, property, commodities — represented by a token. The token is a claim or a share; the asset itself sits with a custodian, a fund or a company.
Rarely directly. Usually you hold a share in a fund, in a company that owns the asset, or a claim on the issuer that holds it. How well you are protected depends on that structure — which is why the same asset can be safer as one token than as another.
Tokenized government bill funds and regulated payment stablecoins carry the least price risk. Even they have no deposit insurance, and the issuer and the smart contract remain risks.
Payment stablecoins backed by bank deposits and government bills are, in effect, tokenized money. Yield-bearing stablecoins vary: some hold government bills, others earn from trading strategies that have nothing to do with real-world assets.
No. Of the 80 instruments we have checked by hand, many are aimed at professional or accredited investors. Where the issuer says it, each product page shows who a product is aimed at — whether you qualify is up to the provider.
Counts, yield ranges and examples come from our database and update with it. Yield ranges cover the instruments we have checked by hand; for the rest we record identity and access terms, not a yield. Not investment advice.