Written by: Gemma Ghifari & Callysta Jomey Steven
Designed by: Ayu Aurelyza Chandira Rahmat
Several years ago, purchasing a luxurious condominium required billions. Today, with only Rp100.000 you can own a fraction of one. This shift has been enabled by the rise of asset tokenization in the financial markets. Asset tokenization is the process of converting a real-world asset into a digital token. This token reflects the value and ownership of a portion of the underlying assets. These assets can be intangible, such as bank deposits, stocks, and bonds, or tangible, like real estate and artwork. Each token is recorded on a blockchain and can be transferred, tracked, and managed digitally. This significantly lowers the barrier to entry for investors to access assets that were once limited to institutional players or high-net-worth individuals due to high capital requirements.
With the transparency and inclusivity it offers, asset tokenization is steadily growing in the financial landscape. It also improves market liquidity by enabling fractional ownership, allowing assets that were once difficult to trade such as real estate to be easily exchanged by a wider range of investors. Transaction costs can also be significantly reduced and settlement processes can be completed within minutes rather than days. According to Mordor Intelligence, the market for asset tokenization is expected to grow from its 2025 valuation of USD 2.08 trillion to USD 13.55 trillion by 2030. Given these advantages and its accelerating adoption, tokenization is increasingly viewed as a key driver in the future modernization of global capital markets.
Tokenized real-world assets leading adoption in several countries, including the United States, Singapore, Switzerland, and members of the European Union. The adoption of tokenization could enhance market efficiency, transparency, and liquidity by enabling 24/7 settlement across countries, fractional ownership, and real-time asset tracking. Therefore, tokenization economically promotes broader participation, lowers transaction costs, and improves cross-countries capital flows, positioning it as a catalyst for financial democratization and sustainable investment. Institutions like BlackRock and Siemens have already issued tokenized funds and bonds, embracing blockchain-backed innovation. In Indonesia, tokenization remains at an early stage, with Bappebti still regulating digital assets mainly as commodities rather than tokenized securities. However, Indonesia’s strong digital economy, growing fintech sector, and push for financial inclusion makes it a fertile ground for adoption. Yet, with regional examples such as Thailand and Philippines issuing tokenized bonds to attract retail investors, Indonesia has significant potential to integrate tokenization into its capital markets once its regulatory and custodial frameworks mature.
From the accounting perspective, tokenization introduces complex challenges due to the absence of specific IFRS or PSAK standards. Currently, the IFRS Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) classifies most cryptoassets (including some tokens) under IAS 38 (Intangible Assets) or IAS 2 (Inventory), depending on their nature. However, for tokenized real-world assets, the classification depends on the underlying substance. Security tokens may fall under IFRS 9 (Financial Instruments), while real estate tokens may follow IAS 40 (Investment Property) or IAS 16 (PPE), with valuation guided by IFRS 13 (Fair Value Measurement). This patchwork approach creates a blurry line between digital representation and underlying ownership, raising issues of recognition, valuation, and assurance. The same thing happened in Indonesia, PSAK has not yet provided a specific guideline for tokenized assets. This regulatory gap exposes auditors and accountants to uncertainties in fair value measurement and disclosure requirements. Without clear standards, firms face difficulty determining whether to record tokens as financial assets, intangible assets, PPE, or investment property.
The uncertainty surrounding tokenization, ranging from unclear valuation methods to the absence of standardized accounting rules, demands that accountants rely on technology not merely as a support tool, but as a core enabler of credibility and trust. Without a stable regulatory reference, fair value measurements for tokenized assets can fluctuate sharply due to market volatility and limited transaction data. This is where hybrid risk models play a transformative role. By merging traditional econometric methods such as GARCH, which captures volatility patterns, collaborating with advanced artificial intelligence techniques like reinforcement learning (RL) or Gated Recurrent Units (GRU), these models can simulate and predict price behaviors of tokenized assets more dynamically and accurately. Through these models, accountants gain the ability to quantify uncertainty, not just report it. They can model extreme price movements, test different market scenarios, and derive data-driven fair values even in illiquid or early-stage markets. This technological integration strengthens accountants’ capacity to make informed valuations, enhance disclosure quality, and communicate market risks transparently to investors.
References:
Mordor Intelligence. (2025). Asset tokenization market size & share analysis – growth trends & forecast (2025–2030). Mordor Intelligence. Retrieved November 8, 2025, from https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/asset-tokenization-market
PwC. (2024). Tokenization in financial services: Delivering value and transformation. PwC. Retrieved November 8, 2025, from https://www.pwc.com/us/en/tech-effect/emerging-tech/tokenization-in-financial-services.html
World Economic Forum. (2025, August). How will asset tokenization transform the future of finance? Retrieved November 8, 2025, from https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/08/tokenization-assets-transform-future-of-finance/
McKinsey & Company. (2023, August). Tokenization: A digital-asset déjà vu. Retrieved November 8, 2025, from https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/financial-services/our-insights/tokenization-a-digital-asset-deja-vu
McKinsey & Company. (2024, June). From ripples to waves: The transformational power of tokenizing assets. Retrieved November 8, 2025, from https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/financial-services/our-insights/from-ripples-to-waves-the-transformational-power-of-tokenizing-assets
McKinsey & Company. (2024, July). What is tokenization? Retrieved November 8, 2025, from https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-tokenization
