Digital assets are a wide-ranging category that can refer to customer data, creative content, tokenized records, and blockchain-based items such as stablecoins. Many businesses use them to store information, move value, and run operations. Given how different and valuable the assets can be, businesses should create strategies for moving, storing, and managing the risks of digital assets.

Below is a guide on digital assets, including how different sectors use them and the risks and responsibilities involved in handling them.

What’s in this article?

• What is a digital asset?
  
• How do digital assets differ from traditional assets?
  
• How are digital assets used across industries?
  
• What technologies support digital asset creation and transfer?
  
• What risks affect digital assets?
  
• How can organizations manage digital assets?
  
• How Stripe Payments can help
  

What is a digital asset?

A digital asset is anything that carries value and exists in digital form. It could be as ordinary as a photo on your phone or as complicated as a cryptocurrency. Regardless, it’s created and stored electronically and treated as something you can own, control, or exchange.

Everyday files (e.g., documents, videos, presentations, logos) are digital assets, as are datasets and databases that inform analytics and decision-making. Digital assets also include cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ether, and stablecoins. Unique digital items such as nonfungible tokens (NFTs) fall under this category as well.

A building or a piece of art can be represented as a digital token, which turns it into something people can trade in fractional slices without moving the physical item. This broad inclusion is partly why the global market for digital asset management (DAM) is growing quickly. As of 2024, it’s valued at about $6.6 billion and projected to keep expanding.

How do digital assets differ from traditional assets?

Digital assets often serve many of the same purposes as traditional assets, but they use completely different mechanics. Here are some of their core characteristics:

• Intangibility: Digital assets exist entirely as data, which makes them easy to store, copy, and move. This also means there’s usually no physical fallback if a file is corrupted or a key is lost.

• Cryptographic ownership: Control comes from credentials rather than physical documents or possession. A lost key or compromised account can have the same impact as losing a physical asset.

• Faster, borderless transfers: Digital assets move across networks without the usual intermediaries that slow traditional transfers. A blockchain-based payment or a shared digital file can reach its destination almost instantly.

• Simpler distribution: Fractional ownership is straightforward in digital formats, whether it’s part of a tokenized asset or a granular version of a file for a specific team. This expands access and increases flexibility in how value is shared or used.

• Digital security and recovery models: Encryption, backup systems, and strong authentication replace locks and safes. Without these protections and clear recovery plans, digital assets can become permanently inaccessible.

How are digital assets used across industries?

Many businesses are integrating digital assets into their core workflows, financial infrastructure, customer experiences, and supply chains. Here are the main industries that use them.

Financial services

Financial institutions were relatively early adopters of digital assets. Stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies allow nearly instant settlement, which can minimize the delays and fees involved in traditional finance. Many asset managers trade digital assets alongside equities and bonds. Regulators and central banks are exploring digital versions of national currencies and some countries, such as Nigeria and Jamaica, have already launched them. Stripe plays a role here by giving businesses straightforward ways to accept and use stablecoins without needing to create specialized infrastructure for digital assets.

Retail and commerce

Retailers can use digital assets as both payment tools and customer engagement assets. Accepting crypto can open the door to international shoppers without forcing them through currency conversions. Brands issue digital collectibles or ownership tokens that act as rewards, limited digital merchandise, or access passes. Some use blockchain records as digital proof of authenticity for physical products, which links each item to its verified history.

Media, entertainment, and art

Creators use digital assets to establish real ownership of work that’s purely digital. NFTs let artists sell unique pieces and receive royalties whenever those pieces change hands. Streaming platforms, game studios, and production teams manage vast libraries of digital content (e.g., videos, 3D models, audio files) that are assets as well. These are all revenue drivers that need structured storage, permissions, and rights management. The gaming industry treats digital items as tradable goods, which has created large virtual economies.

Supply chain and manufacturing

Digital assets let companies track real-world activity with far more transparency. A shipment, a batch of raw materials, or a certificate can be turned into a digital record that updates as the item moves. This makes it easier to verify authenticity, detect counterfeit goods, spot delays, and share reliable information across suppliers, logistics partners, and customers.

Healthcare and government

Healthcare organizations treat patient records, diagnostic imagery, and research datasets as highly sensitive digital assets that require strict access controls and clear audit trails. Some experiments use blockchain to secure data sharing or verify pharmaceutical supply chains. Governments digitize identity documents, land records, and public registries so citizens can access, verify, or use them across services more quickly.

What technologies support digital asset creation and transfer?

Digital assets exist only because a set of technologies makes them trustworthy, movable, and verifiable. Some of these run behind the scenes, while others are highly visible. Together, they determine how digital assets are created, secured, and exchanged.

Blockchain and distributed ledgers

Blockchains introduced a way to record ownership and transfers without relying on a single authority. Each transaction is validated across many independent nodes, then added to a shared ledger that can’t be altered later. This makes it possible for cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and tokenized assets to exist as distinct, provable units. Smart contracts add automation and enforce rules such as royalties and settlement terms without manual intervention.

Cryptography

Cryptographic keys determine the ownership of many digital assets. A private key gives someone the ability to move or modify an asset. A public key lets others verify that those actions are legitimate. This is the foundation of cryptocurrencies. Cryptography also underpins everyday asset security, such as encrypting sensitive files, securing data transfers, and protecting login flows. Without cryptography, digital assets wouldn’t have the same confidentiality or integrity.

Digital wallets and asset platforms

Wallets are the interfaces where people and businesses hold, manage, and transfer digital assets. They store private keys for blockchain-based assets or act as vaults for content- and data-rich assets such as documents, media, and credentials. Marketplaces, exchanges, and minting tools layer on features for trading, issuing, converting, or distributing digital assets. In crypto-specific contexts, wallet design determines how easy an asset is to move and how safely it’s stored.

Cloud storage and DAM systems

Cloud storage and DAM systems provide structure and security for many digital assets. DAM adds metadata, tagging, permissions, and version control so teams can find, use, and update the right assets without duplication or uncertainty. These systems also integrate with creative tools, content platforms, and internal apps so assets move through workflows without diminishing security or consistency.

Networking and APIs

The basic infrastructure of the internet (e.g., secure web protocols, high-speed networks, data transfer standards) makes digital assets shareable across locations and systems. Application programming interfaces (APIs) connect platforms so assets can move automatically between them.

Here are some examples:

• A payment API that accepts a digital currency

• A content management system that pulls in the approved file from a DAM

• A logistics API that updates a product’s digital record as it travels

What risks affect digital assets?

Digital assets introduce different risks compared to physical assets. These potential issues relate to access, security, market conditions, and the reliability of support systems.

These are some common risks involved:

• Cybersecurity threats: Attackers target digital assets through phishing, credential theft, software vulnerabilities, and compromised systems. A successful intrusion can result in immediate and irreversible loss.

• Loss of access: Digital assets depend on credentials that can’t always be recovered if they’re misplaced. When access is lost, the asset is often lost with it.

• Market volatility: Cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets can swing dramatically in price due to market sentiment, liquidity shifts, regulatory news, or major events. This volatility can expose holders to sudden financial risk.

• Limited liquidity or market access: Not all digital assets trade in deep or stable markets, which can make them difficult to sell quickly or at predictable prices. In some regions, regulations or platform restrictions can further constrain access.

• Regulatory uncertainty: Laws that govern digital assets differ widely by country and continue to develop. New rules can change how an asset must be held, taxed, or reported. In some cases, regulations can restrict its use entirely.

• Technological and logistical failures: Bugs, outages, and incorrect configurations can disrupt access to digital assets or expose them to vulnerabilities. A flawed smart contract, a failed update, or a mismanaged workflow can have real financial consequences.

• Human error: Accidental deletions, missent transfers, weak passwords, or mishandled backups can compromise assets as effectively as any outside threat.

How can organizations manage digital assets?

Managing digital assets well often means treating them as infrastructure rather than miscellaneous files or isolated accounts. The goal is to keep them organized, accessible to the right people, and resilient enough to survive failures or turnover.

Here’s where to start:

• Inventory and classification: Start by listing the digital assets you have and grouping them by sensitivity, purpose, and risk. Clear categories make it easier to assign the right protections and keep track of high-value assets.

• Tools that provide structure: DAM systems centralize files, add metadata, and enforce version control. Cloud storage supports assets such as datasets. And specialized wallets can support crypto holdings. The right tools minimize duplication, confusion, and misuse.

• Access and authentication: Apply least privilege access, require strong authentication, and regularly review permissions. These steps prevent unnecessary exposure and limit the damage that any compromised account can cause.

• Encryption and backups: Encryption protects assets if systems are breached, and reliable backups ensure you can recover quickly from deletion, corruption, or device failures. Test restoration processes so backups become a viable safety net rather than a formality.

• Monitoring and auditing: Track how assets are accessed, edited, shared, or transferred so you can identify suspicious behavior early. Audit logs also help meet compliance requirements and resolve disputes about ownership or changes.

• Training and policies: People shape how assets are handled day to day so regular training on security basics, phishing awareness, and proper storage practices goes a long way. Policies should clarify how assets are created, approved, shared, and retired.

• Lifecycle and governance planning: Assign responsibility for major asset categories, set review schedules, and retire or archive assets that are redundant or outdated. Good governance keeps the overall system lean and easier to maintain.

How Stripe Payments can help

Stripe Payments provides a unified, global payment solution that helps any business—from scaling startups to global enterprises—accept payments online, in person, and around the world. Businesses can accept stablecoin payments from almost anywhere in the world that settle as fiat in their Stripe balances.

Stripe Payments can help you:

• Optimize your checkout experience: Create a frictionless customer experience and save thousands of engineering hours with prebuilt payment UIs and access to 125+ payment methods, including stablecoins and crypto.

• Expand to new markets faster: Reach customers worldwide and reduce the complexity and cost of multicurrency management with cross-border payment options, available in 195 countries across 135+ currencies.

• Unify payments in person and online: Build a unified commerce experience across online and in-person channels to personalize interactions, reward loyalty, and grow revenue.

• Improve payment performance: Increase revenue with a range of customizable, easy-to-configure payment tools, including no-code fraud protection and advanced capabilities to improve authorization rates.

• Move faster with a flexible, reliable platform for growth: Build on a platform designed to scale with you, with 99.999% historical uptime and industry-leading reliability.

Learn more about how Stripe Payments can power your online and in-person payments, or get started today.