IMF Warns Tokenized Equity Markets Riskier Than Traditional Markets

The IMF's finding cuts against the core pitch for tokenized equities: that always-on, blockchain-based trading deepens access and efficiency. Instead, the institution frames thinner liquidity and sharper swings as structural features, not teething problems — which matters for anyone treating tokenization as a straightforward upgrade to market plumbing. The tension is that demand for round-the-clock trading keeps rising regardless. Whether regulators treat the IMF's warning as a reason to slow tokenized equity rollouts, or issuers and venues adapt market-making to address the liquidity gap, is the open question.