ADI Foundation, Settlemint launch ADGM rail for $30.9B real-world assets

ADI Foundation and Settlemint announced on May 13 the launch of a tokenization rail on the ADI Chain to support the tokenization and lifecycle management of about $30.9 billion in real-world assets under the Abu Dhabi Global Market’s 2026 regulatory framework.

The platform connects ADI Foundation’s compliance-ready Layer-2 blockchain with Settlemint’s digital asset lifecycle platform to enable on-chain issuance, trading and post-trade servicing. The integrated system is intended to create tokenized instruments, record them on-chain and handle settlement and ongoing asset servicing.

Settlemint built the platform around the ERC-3643 security-token standard to enforce regulatory rules required for security tokens. The initial focus is equity tokenization, with the architecture able to support other tokenized securities and financial instruments once regulators permit them on the ADGM rail.

Andrey Lazorenko, CEO of ADI Foundation, described the initiative as linking market infrastructure with an institutional-grade blockchain to make equities available for tokenized trading on secondary venues and accessible around the clock. Matthew Van Niekerk, co-founder and president of Settlemint, called the project a “blueprint” for national-scale, regulated multi-asset tokenization on public blockchains and added the design can be adopted by central securities depositories, exchanges and clearing houses.

Data cited by the partners shows roughly $30.92 billion in tokenized real-world assets on blockchains, with about $15.20 billion of that tied to tokenized U.S. Treasuries. A 2026 analysis by Boston Consulting Group projects the digital asset market could grow from about $0.6 trillion in 2025 to $18.9 trillion by 2033 as institutions increase use of tokenized real-world assets.

The partners said the ADGM rail offers a single regulated pathway for institutions to bring traditional assets onto blockchain networks while complying with local rules. The ADI Chain operates as a Layer-2 network with built-in compliance features and is designed to interoperate with secondary trading platforms.

The announcement addresses operational gaps that have limited institutional issuance of tokenized securities, including fragmented settlement processes, inconsistent custody models and uneven regulatory treatment across markets. The pre-integrated stack includes token standards, lifecycle tooling and a regulated ledger to reduce technical and regulatory work for issuers and market infrastructure providers.

The ADGM regulatory framework due in 2026 will define which asset types and market participants can use the rail. ADI Foundation and Settlemint said they are working with regulators and market participants to secure permissions for additional asset classes and to integrate with existing post-trade systems where required.