CMB International Asset Management has tokenized the CMB International USD Money Market Fund on the BNB Chain via the CMBMINT and CMBIMINT tokens on October 15.
The fund manages more than $3.8 billion and was ranked number one among Asia-Pacific money market peers in Bloomberg’s performance rankings as of October 2025.
Launched in 2024, the fund invests at least 70% of its net asset value in US dollar-denominated short-term deposits and high-quality instruments issued by governments, quasi-governments and leading financial institutions.
Through tokenization, accredited investors can subscribe using fiat or stablecoins and redeem their holdings in real time through DigiFT’s liquidity management smart contracts, powered by infrastructure provider OnChain.
Adam Bai, head of CMB International Asset Management, said BNB Chain’s infrastructure allows the company to “extend our money market strategies to a broader global investor base in a safe and compliant manner.”
BNB Chain’s RWA ecosystem includes issuing partners including Franklin Templeton, Ondo, Securitize, Backed, OpenEden and Asseto.
Financial assets issued on the network include Circle’s USYC, VBill, Benji and Cash+.
The CMBMINT and CMBIMINT tokens will be integrated with the Venus Protocol and ListaDAO, allowing investors to use them as collateral for loans or in return strategies.
Sarah, head of business development at BNB Chain, called the partnership “another milestone in our RWA journey,” adding that it reinforces BNB Chain’s vision to become the tokenization layer for all assets.
Regulatory context
On September 23, Reuters reported that China’s securities watchdog advised some local brokers to pause their RWA tokenization activities in Hong Kong.
At least two leading brokers have received informal directives from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to refrain from conducting RWA activities outside China.
Shares in top Chinese brokers listed in Hong Kong, including Guotai Junan International and GF Securities, fell between 2% and 7.25% on the news.
Hong Kong’s Financial Services Department, the Treasury Bureau and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority are conducting a legal review of the RWA tokenization, with an initial focus on the bond market.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority stated that it has established guidelines to regulate the sale and distribution of tokenized products by banks and is exploring possible use cases through Project Ensemble, a sandbox project for tokenization.
GF Securities’ Hong Kong unit launched “GF tokens” in June, and China Merchants Bank International assisted Shenzhen Futian Investment in raising 500 million yuan (about $70 million) through an RWA-based digital bond in September.
Shares of state-owned Guotai Junan International soared more than 400% in June after the Hong Kong broker received approval to offer crypto trading services.
CMB International Asset Management is a wholly owned subsidiary of China Merchants Bank, operating in Hong Kong.
The tokenized fund targets accredited investors through regulated channels supported by DigiFT and OnChain.
Furthermore, this initiative helps position China in the RWA market, even if it means doing so through efforts in Hong Kong. As a result, ambitious predictions about the size of the RWA market will become more realistic in a few years.
In the base case, McKinsey predicts that tokenized financial assets will reach roughly $2 trillion by 2030, with a benefit of almost $4 trillion.
Meanwhile, Citi estimated that tokenized securities would be worth about $4 to $5 trillion by the same date. The Boston Consulting Group and ADDX projected a value of approximately $16.1 trillion by 2030.
Here comes a new challenger
The global RWA market reached a record high of $34 billion on October 15, led by $17.5 billion from private credit and $8.3 billion from tokenized money funds.
According to rwa.xyz factsBNB Chain had a total value of $494.6 million in tokenized real-world assets, which represented 2.35% of the $34 billion market, and $469.9 million in tokenized money funds, which accounted for 5.6% of the $8.3 billion segment.
The tokenization of CMB International would bring BNB Chain to approximately $4.3 billion in both categories, representing 11.4% of the total RWA market and 35.3% of tokenized money funds.
Ethereum has a total RWA value of $12.1 billion (57.5% market share) and $5.8 billion in tokenized money funds (70% market share).
Meanwhile, Solana has a total of $686.3 million (3.26%) and $461 million in tokenized funds (5.55%).
Following the completion of this initiative, BNB Chain would rank second in both the overall RWA market and the tokenized money fund segment.
As a result, the dispute between Ethereum and Solana over the ground in the shiny tokenization market would be shaken by the rise of the BNB chain.
While Ethereum would still dominate the market, BNB Chain would take Solana’s place as the top contender given current numbers.
