Tokenization Goes Mainstream: Bitwise Forecasts Crypto’s Trillion-Dollar Revolution

Wall Street's sleeping giant just woke up—and it's wearing a crypto hoodie. Bitwise's latest report signals tokenization isn't coming; it's already rewriting finance's playbook.

From real estate to royalties, blockchain's killer app is eating traditional assets alive. The numbers don't lie: tokenized gold markets alone ballooned 300% last quarter while bankers were still debating 'if' this trend was real.

Here's the kicker—institutions aren't dipping toes anymore. They're diving headfirst into tokenized Treasuries, with BlackRock's BUIDL fund sucking up $500M in weeks. Guess even suits like yield when it's wrapped in a smart contract.

Of course, old-money skeptics still mutter about volatility between martinis. But with 24/7 markets slicing through legacy settlement times like a hot knife through JP Morgan's balance sheet, the 'why' is becoming 'why not?'

One hedge fund manager put it best: 'We're not betting on crypto. We're betting against the 20th century.' Game on.

In Brief

• Bitwise analysts say tokenization is growing fast and could soon impact crypto prices due to its enormous market.
• Tokenized real-world assets reached $24.31B in mid-2025, showing strong growth in adoption.
• Bitwise said the tokenization market could grow over 4,000 times in the coming years.

Tokenization Gains Speed with Recent Activity

Several notable developments in the past month have underlined the speed at which tokenization is advancing. Trading platforms Robinhood and Kraken both launched tokenized stock trading services, using Ethereum Layer 2 solution Arbitrum and the Solana blockchain, respectively.

At the same time, Coinbase has made its intentions clear in the U.S. market. The company is seeking approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer tokenized stock trading and has labeled this effort a top priority, reflecting how seriously it views the opportunity.

Other recent updates include:

• Citadel, DTCC, and Goldman Sachs invested $135 million in the Canton Network, a blockchain for tokenized stocks and bonds.
  
• SEC chairman Paul Atkins called tokenization a major innovation, signaling more supportive regulation ahead.
  
• Mercado Bitcoin plans to tokenize $200 million of real assets using the XRP Ledger, expanding blockchain use in Latin America.
  
• The total value of tokenized real-world assets on public blockchains hit a record $24.31 billion in mid-2025.
  
• Galaxy Digital cautioned that tokenization’s growth could impact NYSE revenues, highlighting its rising influence.
  

Tokenization’s Growth May Soon Influence Crypto Prices

Bitwise analysts Matt Hougan and Ryan Rasmussen highlighted that tokenization is growing fast and could soon impact cryptocurrency prices. The reason is clear: the market for tokenization is “enormous.”

They highlighted that the combined value of stocks and bonds is around $257 trillion—$117 trillion in stocks and $140 trillion in bonds—which could all potentially be tokenized. This figure doesn’t even count other less traditional assets.

Adding to that, there’s been a lot of buzz around stablecoins, expected to grow from $250 billion to $2 trillion by 2030. But even at that size, stablecoins represent less than 1% of the tokenization opportunity foreseen by experts like Larry Fink.

They noted it may take more years before most stock and bond trading happens on-chain. Still, with firms like Robinhood and Tradeweb gearing up now, tokenization could reach 1% to 5% market share in a few years—unlocking trillions and outpacing other crypto sectors, including Bitcoin. They said:

But with major financial firms like Robinhood and Tradeweb positioning themselves for the transition today, I’ve started to wonder: Could tokenization achieve 1-5% penetration in a few years? Could a dozen major pilot projects lift us to that level of market penetration? It seems possible, and it WOULD translate into trillions of dollars… more than any other crypto application or asset, including Bitcoin.

Tokenization Investment: Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket

Bitwise analysts recommend that the “cleanest” approach to investing in tokenization is to diversify across leading LAYER 1 blockchains and related infrastructure projects. These include Ethereum, Solana, XRP, Chainlink, and others connected to the tokenization ecosystem.

They noted that while ethereum is currently leading and could capture the largest share of the tokenization market, there are still many other opportunities. Instead of focusing on just one, investors may be better off spreading their exposure across several platforms.

One could argue for concentrating your bets—especially since Ethereum is the current leader in tokenization and is well positioned to win market share—but that seems overly specific to me. Just look at the announcements above: many different players are getting bites at the apple. It would be unfortunate to call the tokenization trend early only to bet on the wrong horse.

Bitwise added that the tokenization market could grow more than 4,000 times in the coming years. This rapid growth is already evident in the rise of tokenized funds, which have recently surpassed $5.7 billion.

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