As moving stocks and bonds onto blockchains opens up new revenue streams, executives from Grayscale and Arca have named the networks and crypto projects that could benefit from the shift.
Commentary compiled by CoinDesk focuses less on the scale of tokenization and more on a key question for investors: Who will capture the revenue from this growth? The discussion comes against the backdrop of a 79-page report, Breaking the Wall, published last week by Citrini Research, known for its technology and market analysis.
Tokenization represents assets such as stocks, bonds, or funds on a blockchain. In Citrini’s view, the main opportunity is not simply trading for longer hours; it is the ability to use the same asset across different applications, post it as collateral for borrowing, and combine it with other financial products. As these activities grow, revenue could be generated in areas ranging from issuance and trading to lending services and stablecoin use.
Grayscale highlights networks, Arca points to applications
Zach Pandl, head of digital asset research at Grayscale, believes the most direct way to benefit from this trend may be to invest in networks that host tokenized assets and process their transactions. Pandl names Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Solana among today’s leaders.
According to Pandl, Avalanche and Canton could also play distinct roles thanks to their focus on banks and asset managers. Demand for these networks may increase as financial institutions move more of their activities onto blockchains.
Jeff Dorman, an investment manager at Arca, points to another part of the opportunity. He says that as competition increases, the process of tokenizing an asset may become standardized and less profitable. More durable revenue could emerge after an asset is on-chain, when it is traded, lent out, or used as collateral.
For that reason, Dorman names Securitize, blockchain-based trading platform Hyperliquid, decentralized lending protocol Aave, and decentralized exchange Aerodrome as potential beneficiaries. In contrast to the view focused on networks, this approach highlights services that generate revenue from investor activity.
Companies with customer access could also benefit
Christian Magoon, CEO of Amplify ETFs, sees infrastructure providers as businesses that can collect fees from blockchain transactions. But he notes that the distribution power of Coinbase, Robinhood, banks, and asset management platforms, which maintain customer relationships, could be at least as valuable as the infrastructure itself.
The distinction matters to investors: growth in trading volume in a market is not the same as that revenue flowing to a particular company, protocol, or token. The reason experts point to different names is that they have different expectations about where the profits will accrue.
Artificial intelligence is the area Arthur Hayes highlights
Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, argued in an interview with The Rollup that registering a security already held in a digital database on another system may not create much value on its own. He sees a stronger scenario in AI agents managing financial services.
In this scenario, software could rebalance a portfolio, direct idle cash to higher-yielding opportunities, or find more favorable lending terms. This would require assets that are accessible around the clock and can be transacted through software. Citrini also sees the transformation of tokenized financial products into a structure that AI systems can use as a significant opportunity.
Still, Magoon emphasizes that tokenized assets remain very small compared with global financial markets. The market’s early stage also leaves open the possibility that the winners of the future may differ from today’s leaders.
Not investment advice.