Tokenization Trends: Experts Highlight Winning Assets in the Crypto Sector

The recent surge in interest towards **tokenization** could potentially influence the prices of associated cryptocurrencies such as ETH, SOL, XRP, and LINK, according to analysts at Bitwise.

«I’ve always had mixed feelings about tokenization. On one hand, it seems inevitable. The fact that stocks are only traded from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM on weekdays is absurd. Yet, despite this sense of inevitability, I often wondered if it was still too early,” commented Matt Hougan, Bitwise’s Chief Investment Officer. “Just ask anyone who witnessed the transition from floor trading to electronic trading how long that took.»

The stock and bond market is valued at $257 trillion, a figure that far exceeds even the most ambitious forecasts for the crypto market’s capitalization, the expert noted. Therefore, even a moderate implementation of tokenization at just 1-5% could unleash trillions of dollars into the market.

Although it may take decades before we see full-fledged securities trading on the blockchain, actions taken by major firms like Robinhood and Tradeweb indicate a rising momentum, the experts noted.

“The narrative surrounding tokenization is set to accelerate — when Robinhood launches tokenized trading, you can be sure that companies like Charles Schwab are actively exploring this opportunity. I expect a wave of new announcements this fall,” stated Hougan.

Investing in a basket of leading blockchain projects and infrastructure solutions such as Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and Chainlink is touted as the “cleanest” method to invest in the tokenization trend by Bitwise.

At the end of June, Robinhood announced the development of its own blockchain network and the launch of trading tokenized stocks on the Arbitrum L2 protocol. The company released tokens based on the securities of OpenAI, Robinhood Markets, Trump Media & Technology Group, Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF, and YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy.

Robinhood co-founder and CEO Vladimir Tenev has stated that numerous private companies have reached out to his firm, requesting the addition of their tokenized stocks.

In May, Kraken announced the launch of tokenized stock trading for companies like Apple, Tesla, Nvidia, and an additional 50 firms for users in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Each asset is backed by a share or a stake in an **ETF** through Kraken’s partner, Swiss company Backed Finance. The price of xStocks is synchronized with the market value of the underlying assets.

The xStocks, which are tied to real securities, were initially launched on the Solana blockchain. On July 9, Kraken and Backed announced the addition of BNB Chain. In the coming weeks, exchange customers outside the U.S. will be able to deposit and withdraw tokenized securities via BNB Chain and Solana on the centralized exchange.

«These instruments operate as programmable units of account, enabling instantaneous payments, real-time international transfers, and integration with on-chain lending, derivatives, and structured products,» commented Aarthun Sethy, co-CEO of Kraken.

Backed will issue xStocks on BNB Chain in the form of BEP-20 standard tokens, providing tokenized versions of U.S. listed stocks and ETFs such as AAPLx, TSLAx, SPYx, and NVDAx.

According to a Dune panel from venture firm Hashed, xStocks generated $32.8 million in on-chain trading volume. However, this data does not account for internal figures on centralized exchanges, implying that the total trading volume could be significantly higher.

Lastly, in July, AI startup OpenAI described the tokens representing its stocks on the Robinhood platform as fraudulent and denied any involvement in their launch.