Tokenized assets to reach 400 billion by 2026: Traditional financial institutions accelerate on-chain integration

【Crypto World】Stablecoins are becoming the testing ground for 2025. As this infrastructure gradually matures, the crypto industry is pushing for greater imagination—bringing traditional assets like stocks, ETFs, money market funds, and gold onto the blockchain. Industry insiders are generally optimistic about this direction, with several executives predicting that the tokenized asset market could surpass $400 billion this year.

What is the current situation? Samir Kerbage, Chief Investment Officer of Hashdex, revealed that the current size of tokenized assets is about $36 billion. He emphasized that future growth will not solely come from speculative demand but from a structural reshaping of value transfer methods. The role of stablecoins as “on-chain cash” will become increasingly clear, and funds will naturally flow toward truly investable assets, serving as a bridge between digital currencies and digital capital markets.

Growth has already begun. By 2025, the tokenized asset market size is approaching $20 billion, with traditional financial institutions like BlackRock, JPMorgan, and BNY Mellon deeply involved. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino believes 2026 will be a key milestone—banks will move from pilot phases to full deployment, especially in emerging markets, where tokenization can help issuers bypass traditional financial infrastructure.

More aggressive predictions have also emerged. Jürgen Blumberg, COO of Centrifuge, expects that by the end of 2026, the locked value of on-chain real-world assets (RWA) could exceed $100 billion. Among the top 20 global asset management firms, more than half will launch tokenized products. Carlos Domingo, CEO of Securitize, pointed out that native tokenized stocks and ETFs will gradually replace synthetic assets, becoming high-quality collateral within the DeFi ecosystem.

Of course, challenges remain. Legal clarity, cross-chain interoperability, and a unified identity system are still key. But industry consensus has shifted—no longer asking “Should we go on-chain?” but instead asking “How can we scale quickly?”