Bitcoin’s record-breaking rally is rekindling hope that the digital-ledger technology that underpins cryptocurrencies will revolutionize everything from recording the ownership of houses to bonds.

Tokenization, or the process of creating digital representations of real-world assets on a blockchain, has become one of this year’s buzzwords in both conventional and crypto finance circles. The excitement is reminiscent of the hype of a few years ago surrounding the use of blockchains for everything from tracking lettuce at Walmart Inc. to digitizing stocks that proved to be premature.