Tokenisation’s Risk Check: The IMF’s Warning, Korea’s Bond Pilot and Three Products Testing the Idea

On 8 October 2026 the International Monetary Fund published a financial-stability chapter on tokenisation, meaning the recording of financial assets on shared digital ledgers. Its message is that the market is still small, and the risk to the system is limited for now. As it grows, though, the features that make it attractive (round-the-clock trading, instant settlement, automatic liquidations) could also make stress spread faster [1][2][3].

In the same week, three real products showed what is being built:

• Spiko raised $90 million for tokenised cash funds [6].
• OSL tokenised a professional-only stablecoin strategy fund in Hong Kong [4].
• Stove Finance’s tokenised US and Korean shares became tradable through UniswapX [5].

None of this is investment advice.

What did the IMF say?

Confirmed, via secondary reports. Chapter 3 of the IMF’s October 2026 Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR) was presented at the Bank of Korea on 8 October, at 14:00 KST (06:00 BST). The full report follows on 13 October [1][2]. The IMF’s own pages blocked TSN’s requests, so the figures below come from Korean outlets that covered the presentation. They are labelled as such.

The main points, as reported [1][2][3]:

• Size. Tokenised real-world assets reached about $65 billion at the end of July 2026. About $48 billion of that was bonds, asset-backed securities and money-market funds, and about $2.3 billion was equities. The figure excludes private tokenised markets, repurchase agreements (repos) and stablecoins. Seoul Economic Daily adds that tokenised repo activity reached $371 billion on a 30-day moving average [2].
• Tokenised shares behave differently. In the IMF’s sample of US equity-linked tokens, more than half of trading happened outside regular US market hours, and about 80% of trades were for less than one share. Realised volatility was about 1.5 times that of conventional markets, and liquidity was thinner, especially on decentralised exchanges. The IMF cautions that a small, young market may not reflect conditions at scale [2][3].
• The risk channels. These are heavier reliance on smart contracts and oracles, collateral reuse, automated margin calls and liquidations that can speed up forced selling, and instant settlement, which needs more funding up front and removes the timing gaps that help firms absorb shocks [1][2][3].
• Recommendations. Tokenised securities should settle in central bank money where practical. Stablecoins and deposit tokens used for settlement need controls on the issuer’s credit and liquidity risk. Authorities should also adapt circuit breakers for continuous trading, monitor links with traditional markets, and strengthen oversight of technology providers [1][2][3].

Korea’s plan. Opening the event, Bank of Korea Senior Deputy Governor Kwon Min-soo said the bank and the government are working on a pilot to tokenise government bonds “next year”, meaning 2027 [3]. He added that slow, multi-step settlement has “served as buffers during times of market turmoil” [3]. That is a central banker’s way of saying speed is not free.

Spiko: $90 million for tokenised cash funds

Confirmed. Paris- and London-based Spiko announced a $90 million Series B led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) on 6 October 2026. Total funding is now $120 million [6]. Spiko offers money-market funds in euros, dollars, sterling and Swiss francs, with fund shares recorded on a blockchain. Its own figures are $2.7 billion in its funds, more than fivefold growth in 12 months, and over 10,000 clients in more than 25 countries [6].

Why it matters. This is the cash-like end of tokenisation, the largest category in the IMF’s breakdown. The sales pitch is cash that earns interest “around the clock”. The IMF’s warning about 24/7 liquidity applies here too.

OSL and 2WA: a stablecoin strategy fund, professional investors only

Confirmed. Hong Kong-listed OSL Group has tokenised USDGO Plus SP, a fund launched in August by 2WA. OSL also provides custody and distribution [4]. The fund tries to earn “market-neutral” returns from funding-rate spreads in crypto derivatives, the periodic payments between long and short traders, rather than from price direction. It holds USDGO, a dollar stablecoin issued by Anchorage Digital Bank. OSL is that stablecoin’s brand operator and distributor [4].

The release reports a return of 16.67% since inception, before fees, as of 7 October [4]. It also says the fund has not been authorised by Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission, is open only to professional investors, and that “funding rates may turn negative” [4]. OSL sits on several sides of this arrangement: it is distributor of the stablecoin, and tokeniser, custodian and distributor of the fund. Readers should keep that in mind.

Stove Finance on UniswapX: tokenised shares by quote

Confirmed. Stove Finance said on 7 October that its tokenised US and South Korean equities are now available through Uniswap [5]. Trades use UniswapX’s request-for-quote system: professional market makers quote a price, and each swap settles “atomically”, in a single on-chain step [5]. Stove says it also supports Hong Kong shares and plans more markets [5]. The release does not list the stocks, say who is eligible, or explain the holders’ legal rights.

Why it matters. This is exactly the market the IMF measured: share tokens trading outside exchange hours, in small sizes, with thinner liquidity [3]. Using quotes from market makers is one way to manage the liquidity problem. It does not remove the timing mismatch with the underlying exchange.

Update, 8 October 2026

Public-sector examples already working. The IMF’s main recommendation, as reported, is that tokenised securities should settle in central bank money where practical [1][2][3]. Three public authorities have moved in that direction in the past month.

• Euro area. On 21 September the Eurosystem launched Pontes, which “enables wholesale transactions in tokenised assets to be settled in central bank money”. Thirteen market participants, the Deutsche Bundesbank and four DLT operators have completed onboarding. “Full implementation [is] expected by 2028” [7]. The same day, the ECB said it “has launched preparatory work to invest a small portion of its own funds in tokenised securities”, settled via Pontes. No date or amount has been set [8].
• Hong Kong. On 28 September the government priced around HK$20 billion of digital green bonds in four currencies, its fourth such issue. Tokenised deposits were used to settle the Hong Kong dollar tranche in the primary issue, alongside the tokenised central bank money option introduced in the previous issue. The HKMA calls it “the world’s first digital bond that integrates tokenised deposits in HKD” [9].
• India. SEBI and the RBI launched “Demat 2.0” on 10 September. Corporate bonds are issued on a ledger owned by the depositories, and the cash leg settles in the RBI’s wholesale e-rupee (e₹). REC, L&T and IIFL issued ₹1,025 crore between them [10].

Why it matters here. These cases answer part of the IMF’s concern about settlement assets. Each uses central bank money or regulated bank deposits as the settlement asset, rather than a private stablecoin [7][9][10]. They do not test the IMF’s other worry, about 24/7 trading and automated liquidations. All three are primary issuance or wholesale settlement. India’s secondary trading phase has not started yet [10].

What this does not prove

• That tokenisation is safe, or that it is dangerous. The IMF calls today’s systemic risk limited and is warning about what could happen at scale [1][3].
• The IMF’s exact wording. We could not open the IMF’s pages, so all IMF figures come from Yonhap Infomax, Seoul Economic Daily and Aju Press [1][2][3].
• That Korea will issue tokenised bonds in 2027. It is a planned pilot [3].
• That Spiko’s or OSL’s numbers will hold. Spiko’s assets and growth figures are its own [6]. OSL’s 16.67% is a past, pre-fee return for an unauthorised professional-only fund [4].
• What Stove token holders own. The release does not set out legal rights or eligibility [5].
• That public tokenised markets are mature. Pontes reaches full implementation only by 2028, the ECB has not set a date for its purchases, and India’s pilot has not reached secondary trading [7][8][10].

The Bottom Line

The IMF has put numbers on what tokenisation enthusiasts and sceptics have been arguing about. The market is about $65 billion, mostly cash-like assets. Share tokens are small, trade at all hours and swing about 1.5 times as much as conventional shares. The risks come from speed and automation [1][2][3]. The week’s products sit along that spectrum: Spiko’s tokenised cash funds [6], OSL’s yield fund for professionals only [4] and Stove’s share tokens on UniswapX [5]. The question TSN keeps asking still applies: what sits under the token, and what happens to it when markets move fast?

On the public side, the Eurosystem’s Pontes, Hong Kong’s tokenised-deposit-settled green bond and India’s e-rupee-settled corporate bonds show the IMF’s preferred settlement model already in limited use [7][9][10].

Sources

1. Hak Seong Kim, “IMF – Asset Tokenization May Increase Vulnerabilities, Financial Stability Must Be Ensured,” Yonhap Infomax, 8 October 2026 (secondary report of the IMF chapter). https://en.infomaxai.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=142492
2. “IMF Warns Asset Tokenization Breeds New Vulnerabilities,” Seoul Economic Daily, 8 October 2026 (secondary report of the IMF chapter). https://en.sedaily.com/finance/2026/10/08/imf-warns-asset-tokenization-breeds-new-vulnerabilities
3. Kim Yeon-jae, “Korea to test tokenized government bonds in 2027” (report on the BOK–IMF forum, including Kwon Min-soo’s remarks), Aju Press, 8 October 2026, 06:52 BST. https://www.ajupress.com/view/20261008135015481. IMF report landing page (release schedule; blocked to TSN’s fetches): https://www.imf.org/en/publications/gfsr/issues/2026/10/13/global-financial-stability-report-october-2026
4. OSL Group / 2WA, “OSL Group powers 2WA’s tokenization of the first USDGO stablecoin market-neutral strategy fund” (press release, PR Newswire), 8 October 2026. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/osl-group-powers-2was-tokenization-of-the-first-usdgo-stablecoin-market-neutral-strategy-fund-302902247.html
5. Stove Finance, “Stove Finance and Uniswap Labs Collaborate to Expand Onchain Access to Global Equities” (press release, Chainwire), 7 October 2026. https://chainwire.org/2026/10/07/stove-finance-and-uniswap-labs-collaborate-to-expand-onchain-access-to-global-equities/
6. Spiko, “We’ve raised $90M to make cash earn for everyone” (company blog), 6 October 2026. https://www.spiko.io/blog/weve-raised-90m-to-make-cash-earn-for-everyone
7. European Central Bank, “Eurosystem brings central bank money to tokenised finance” (press release), 21 September 2026. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2026/html/ecb.pr260921~e754847a7b.en.html
8. European Central Bank, “ECB to invest part of own funds in tokenised securities, with settlement via Pontes” (press release), 21 September 2026. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2026/html/ecb.pr260921_1~5a011ecbea.en.html
9. Hong Kong Monetary Authority, “HKSAR Government’s Fourth Digital Green Bonds Offering” (press release), 29 September 2026. https://www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/news-and-media/press-releases/2026/09/20260929-6/
10. Securities and Exchange Board of India, “Successful launch of ‘Demat 2.0’ Pilot project for Tokenised Corporate Bonds,” PR No. 56/2026, 10 September 2026. https://www.sebi.gov.in/media-and-notifications/press-releases/sep-2026/successful-launch-of-demat-2-0-pilot-project-for-tokenised-corporate-bonds_104418.html