Wall Street often chases the next big thing, but tokenized stocks are not about fireworks or fast wins. They point to a slower change in how markets may work once the infrastructure is in place. That is the view from New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG), where researchers argue for patience instead of hype.
Greg Cipolaro, NYDIG’s global head of research, says the early upside of putting real-world assets like stocks on blockchains will feel modest. He describes the gains as “light at first,” adding that they grow only as “access and interoperability and composability increase.”
For now, most of the value comes from transaction fees and basic on-chain settlement. Ethereum is “by far and away” the leading public blockchain for tokenized assets, but the market remains closed.
The cause behind tokenization’s slow progress
Tokenization today is scattered and “doesn’t imply open access.” Tokenized traditional assets total close to $400B in represented value, excluding stablecoins, yet $380B, or 91%, sits on the permissioned Canton Network. Public chains hold far less by comparison. Ethereum hosts about $12.1B in real-world assets, while BNB Chain holds roughly $1.8B.
On one end are open networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum. On the other are gated systems where participation is restricted. Even on Ethereum, Cipolaro notes that many RWAs are securities, meaning “broker-dealers, KYC/investor accreditation, whitelisted wallets, transfer agents” and other traditional structures remain in place.
“one does not simply buy an RWA on Coinbase… or Uniswap… .”
Greg Cipolaro
The shift comes later, if rules change and systems connect. Cipolaro points to future DeFi use, where RWAs could serve “as collateral for borrowing, an asset to be lent out, or for trading.” On Ethereum, tokenized U.S. Treasury funds already make up about $8.6B of the $12.1B total.
What’s waiting on the green light
Regulation remains the main gatekeeper. Rules, investor checks, and legacy systems still tie tokenized assets to traditional finance. Even so, early moves by firms like BlackRock and JPMorgan show growing interest.
Whether tokenization becomes the future of finance or remains an experiment depends on access. If markets open and participation widens, today’s limited gains could lead to much broader change.
