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It’s honestly hard to summarize the biggest stories of 2024 simply because there were so many, but if I were to undertake that exercise I’d have to say that tokenization – and BlackRock’s grand entry into crypto – ranks high the list would be.
According to RWA.xyz, tokenized treasuries currently sit at around $4 billion, which is a small slice of the RWA pie. Currently, the total RWA onchain (excluding stablecoins) is $15.2 billion.
However, Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo thinks you could realistically cut out some of the tokenization efforts that took place on private chains that no one uses, which could bring the total value down to around $5 billion.
Both VanEck and Bitwise believe the RWA space could grow to $50 billion – a number Domingo believes is within reach.
“If you look at the rate at which we’re going to grow, the Treasury space itself should grow to several billion dollars next year, because stablecoins are now worth $200 billion. So that should be $10 to $20 billion in government bonds. And then you start adding some of the new products that we’re going to roll out… ongoing integrations with DeFi, etc. I think the industry merger… should reach $50 billion within the next twelve to eighteen months, and hopefully we will we our 20% [to] 25% market share as the industry leader,” said Domingo.
A look at the largest tokenized treasuryYes
As for success this year, Domingo thinks that tokenization has reached the mainstream not only because big figures are entering the space, but also because there was “usefulness of the tokens.”
“We started with simple features like peer-to-peer portability, so faster portability that makes the asset more usable in the chain, like the use cases we’ve been working on – with BUIDL as collateral – and so on. This is all based on being able to move security efficiently in the chain [and] the liquidity through single redemptions with stablecoins, etc.,” he explained.
Clearly, Domingo doesn’t think that tokenization’s moment in the spotlight is a one-time affair. He feels quite strongly that we will continue to adapt and evolve the RWA space over the coming year.
For Domingo, the big catch is the aforementioned integration with DeFi, which Securitize is exploring as its next venture.
“That will make the industry ten times bigger. That’s my personal opinion,” he told me. But it will be good for both RWA and DeFi, which can benefit from each other’s success.
When it comes to the challenges of the coming year, it will be twofold for Securitize.
First Domingo half-jokingly told me to stop being a bottleneck (which, he added, was why Securitize was thrilled to bring in Michael Sonnenshein late last year) and then it’s all about acquiring talent.
Domingo said hiring in a bull market is very “challenging” due to the amount of competition in the industry, but it’s not a bad problem to have as regulatory overhang will no longer be a major problem once we transition to this next administration.
Forget the year of the snake – this is the year of tokenization.
