The tokenisation paradox: why democratisation risks digitising illiquidity

Wall Street’s embrace of asset tokenisation is undeniable - major institutions are racing to digitise private market holdings, having tokenised tens of billions of US dollars in real world assets. The most public signal of this revolution arrived when Hamilton Lane dramatically dropped the minimum investment for its tokenised Senior Credit Opportunities Fund (SCOPE) from $2 million to a mere $10,000. This move fulfilled the central promise of tokenisation: democratising access to investments previously reserved for the ultra-wealthy. Yet, behind the headlines of lowered barriers and fractional ownership lies a persistent structural challenge. Whilst investors can now buy into private credit or private equity with modest sums, the fundamental tension remains that they can buy them, but often cannot sell them efficiently. Asset managers claim tokenisation will revolutionise private markets through 24/7 trading, but research suggests most tokenised assets currently exhibit minimal second…