ARK Invest: "Tokenized asset market to surpass $11 trillion by 2030"

A forecast has emerged that the market for tokenized assets will surge in the coming years as the on-chain migration of traditional financial assets accelerates. The analysis says tokenization could become a core pillar of the financial system if regulatory clarity improves and institutional-grade infrastructure is built out in earnest.

According to The Block on the 21st (local time), ARK Invest, led by Cathie Wood, said in a report that the tokenized asset market could exceed $11 trillion by 2030. The current real-world asset (RWA) tokenization market is estimated at roughly $19 billion to $22 billion, implying growth of about 50,000% to 58,000% over the next five years to reach that level.

ARK Invest wrote that “widespread adoption of tokenization is likely to take off after regulatory clarity and the buildout of infrastructure at a level suitable for institutional investors.” Tokenized assets are described as digital representations of financial instruments traded on blockchains in place of legacy intermediary infrastructure, offering potential benefits such as lower costs, faster settlement, improved liquidity, fractional ownership, and 24-hour trading.

Institutional moves toward tokenization have also been expanding rapidly. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is developing a blockchain-based platform to support 24-hour trading of tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), subject to regulatory approval. F/m Investments has also sought approval from US regulators to record ownership interests in a 3-month US Treasury ETF on a blockchain.

Custodian bank State Street has launched a digital-asset platform that supports money market funds, ETFs, tokenized deposits, and stablecoins, while London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has introduced a digital settlement hub spanning blockchain and existing payment systems.

At present, the tokenized asset market is dominated by Treasury-type assets centered on US Treasuries. However, ARK Invest expects the share of bank deposits and globally listed equities within the tokenization market to expand rapidly over the next five years, with asset transfers moving beyond the pilot stage into broader implementation.

Even if the market reaches $11 trillion by 2030, tokenized assets would still account for only about 1.38% of global financial assets, the report said. ARK Invest assessed that “with most global assets still remaining off-chain, traditional assets represent the biggest growth opportunity for on-chain expansion.”