Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo mentioned he believes tokenized equities and ETFs, not non-public credit score or Treasury merchandise, would be the asset class that finally drives the real-world asset (RWA) market into the trillions.
Talking at a ETHConf panel in New York on Tuesday, Domingo argued that bringing shares and exchange-traded funds onchain may unlock a market far bigger than in the present day’s roughly $30 billion tokenized asset sector.
“The whole equities and ETF market worldwide might be like $150 trillion,” Domingo mentioned. “Provided that a small share of that, like 2% or 3%, strikes onchain, it will get you very near that $5 trillion.”
The feedback come as Securitize prepares to go public and seeks to broaden its function as one of many largest tokenization suppliers for establishments, together with BlackRock.
Whereas tokenized U.S. Treasuries have emerged because the dominant RWA class over the previous two years, Domingo argued that tokenized shares may turn out to be the business’s subsequent main progress engine. Securitize has introduced partnerships with the New York Inventory Trade and switch agent Computershare aimed toward enabling on-chain buying and selling and settlement of equities.
Domingo additionally drew a distinction between what he considers “actual” tokenized equities and the rising variety of blockchain-based inventory merchandise supplied exterior the U.S.
“Lots of people that in the present day say that they tokenize equities, they don’t seem to be tokenizing fairness,” he mentioned, arguing that many choices depend on derivatives or artificial constructions moderately than direct possession of the underlying shares.
In line with Domingo, the long-term aim is for blockchain-based securities to supply the identical investor rights as conventional shares whereas benefiting from on the spot settlement, 24/7 transferability and deeper integration with decentralized finance.
Domingo maintained that public blockchains, significantly Ethereum, stay the popular infrastructure for institutional tokenization regardless of considerations round transparency and compliance. Securitize makes use of sensible contracts to limit possession to accepted traders whereas permitting property to maneuver on permissionless networks.
Trying forward, Domingo mentioned he expects blockchain-based markets to develop alongside present monetary infrastructure earlier than steadily absorbing a bigger share of exercise.
“The standard markets are going to remain,” he mentioned. “We will see a brand new market emerge in parallel that may run on blockchain rails and be rather more environment friendly.”
Learn extra: BlackRock-backed tokenization agency Securitize clears key hurdle to go public on NYSE