Citigroup Warns an $8 Trillion Tokenization Explosion Is Coming by 2030

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Citigroup predicts $8 trillion tokenization boom by 2030

The market for turning real-world assets into tokens is growing quickly. Citigroup estimates this market could be worth up to $8.2 trillion by 2030 if growth continues at a strong pace.

Summary

  • Citigroup projects the tokenized asset market could reach $5.5 trillion in its base case and as much as $8.2 trillion by 2030.
  • Token Terminal data shows tokenized assets have surpassed $43 billion, rising about 37% over the past six months.
  • Financial advisors are increasingly focused on tokenization and stablecoins as institutions expand blockchain-based financial products.

Citigroup reports that tokenization—turning assets into digital tokens—is becoming a standard part of the financial system. This shift is happening because regulations are becoming clearer and big financial firms are increasingly using blockchain technology.

The bank predicts the market could be worth $5.5 trillion under normal circumstances, but faster growth could increase that to over $8 trillion by the end of the decade.

As a researcher, I’ve been tracking the growth of tokenized assets, and the latest on-chain data is really promising. We’re already seeing an acceleration in growth, with these assets now totaling over $43 billion in market value. That’s about a 37% increase in just the last 180 days, according to Token Terminal.

In my research, I’ve found that our platform estimates the market value higher than RWA.xyz, who currently places it under $33 billion. This discrepancy probably comes down to how we each categorize tokenized financial products – we seem to be including different things in our calculations.

Tokenized funds remain the largest category

According to data from Token Terminal, tokenized funds make up almost 80% of the total value in this market. Commodities account for 16.6%, and tokenized stocks represent around 3.8%.

BREAKING: Total RWA market cap surpasses $43 billion, led by @ethereum with 57.8% market share.

— Token Terminal 📊 (@tokenterminal) June 15, 2026

Ethereum continues to be the dominant force in network activity, accounting for over half (57.8%) of all tokenized asset value as measured by Token Terminal. BNB Chain is a distant second with 8.5%, followed by zkSync Era at 7.5%. XRP Ledger and Stellar represent smaller portions, holding 5.8% and 5.4% respectively.

Sky currently leads the market in managing digital assets with a value of $6.1 billion. Securitize and Ondo Finance are close behind, both handling around $3.6 billion in these types of assets, according to data from Token Terminal.

As I’ve been tracking the market, we’re seeing continued strong institutional interest. Just recently, I learned from Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan that his team’s conversations with over 40 financial advisory firms show a significant increase in their focus on tokenization and stablecoins – it seems they’re really starting to pay attention.

According to Hougan, financial advisors seem more interested in how blockchain technology can be used for things like payments, trading, and real-world assets, rather than focusing on Bitcoin specifically.

A recent Bitwise survey, done with VettaFi, revealed that over half (56%) of financial advisors own cryptocurrency themselves. Additionally, almost 42% are able to buy crypto for their clients. This is significant because these advisors manage a combined total of more than $175 trillion in assets, according to Hougan.

Financial firms are expanding tokenization efforts

Several major institutions have publicly outlined expectations for continued growth in the sector.

I was really interested to see Standard Chartered start covering Uniswap this week. Their big takeaway was that tokenizing real-world assets could be huge for getting more people into DeFi. They’re predicting the whole DeFi space could hit $2.7 trillion by 2030, which is pretty optimistic, but makes sense if we see more traditional finance move onto blockchains.

As a crypto investor, I’m really watching how traditional finance players move into tokenization. Citigroup just highlighted some key companies – like the DTCC, NYSE, and Nasdaq – that could be major players. If these established institutions start using blockchain for things like issuing and settling assets, it could seriously speed up wider adoption, which is great news for the whole crypto space.

I’m seeing growing interest in tokenized equities beyond just tokenized funds and private credit. Companies like Ondo Markets and xStocks are leading the way, making blockchain-based stock ownership more accessible as overall demand for these types of digital financial products rises.

A recent Binance Research report confirms that tokenizing assets isn’t limited to just U.S. Treasury bonds anymore. The industry is expanding to include a wider range of investments and ways to earn income.

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2026-06-17 03:58