Author: Zeus
Compiled by: Saoirse, Foresight News
Original title: Tokenization : Who really benefits?
I discussed this topic last week, and Andy from Rollup also asked a similar question. Everyone keeps asking: who are the real beneficiaries of the tokenization of real-world assets?
The real answer is: almost everyone will benefit, but the reasons for the benefit, the timing, and the underlying logic are completely different.
Retail investor perspective: From bystander to participant
For decades, retail investors have been systematically excluded from high-yield assets. This is not because the assets are too complex, but because the traditional financial system itself is designed for large sums of money, qualified investors, and inefficient liquidation; small investments are simply not worthwhile.
Tokenization doesn't just lower the barrier to entry; it dismantles the entire system that creates those barriers.
Consider the current situation regarding retail investors seeking private lending:
The entry threshold is typically between $250,000 and $1 million.
Must be a qualified investor
Lock-up period of 3-7 years
There is almost no secondary market
Completely subject to the fund manager
And once these funds are tokenized:
Fragmented holding: You don't need 1 million; you can invest as little as $100. Smart contracts solve the problem of high management costs for small amounts.
24/7 trading: There are no opening or closing times, no clearing window, and no need to wait for bank funds to arrive.
Globally accessible: Retail investors in Lagos, Jakarta, and São Paulo, as well as investors in Manhattan, can buy the same tokenized Treasury bond fund.
Composability: Tokenized assets are programmable capital. They can be used for lending and collateralization, vault strategies, and cross-platform transfers without needing a brokerage firm.
Going deeper: retail investors gain more than just "buying the same things cheaper," they gain a whole new set of financial behaviors.
Within an afternoon, you can hold tokenized US Treasury bonds, use them as collateral to borrow stablecoins, and then reinvest them in a yield strategy, all in a self-managed manner, without having to make any calls to a financial manager.
Before tokenization, retail investors were spectators of the global capital markets. After tokenization, they became participants. The difference is enormous.
From the issuer's perspective: Faster financing , wider channels, and lower costs
For issuers, the logic is simple: tokenization makes fundraising faster, cheaper, and allows for an exponential expansion of the investor base. All issuers globally care about these three points, and tokenization can satisfy them simultaneously.
The shift from traditional issuance to tokenized issuance:
Traditional settlements take weeks to months, while tokenization can be completed in minutes to hours.
Traditionally, custody, transfer, brokerage, and clearing institutions are required; tokenization uses smart contracts to complete distribution, compliance, and clearing.
Traditional methods are limited by geographical location, regulation, and entry barriers; tokenization is open to the world, 24/7, and allows for small investments.
Traditional manual reconciliation, quarterly reports, and shareholder register management are extremely costly; tokenized automatic reporting, on-chain transparency, and real-time data.
Traditional product structures are rigid; tokenization supports tiered design, flexible redemption, and dynamic profit mechanisms.
Traditional private equity lending funds typically serve only 50-200 institutions, and a single funding round can take several months. In contrast, tokenized funds can serve tens of thousands of investors: they are compliant and programmatic, offer digital account opening, have extremely low barriers to entry, and can be participated in by retail investors, small family offices, and crypto-native institutions.
Tokenization also brings new product design capabilities:
A smart contract can be used to create tiered products with different risks and returns.
Flexible redemption options available daily/weekly/monthly, with automatic code execution.
Dynamic reward mechanism based on on-chain data
Hybrid products combining fixed income and DeFi yields
These things are too costly to implement in traditional finance, but they are very simple in a tokenized system.
Institutional Perspective: Liquidation, Transparency, and Structural Risk Reduction
These institutions don't care about encryption or decentralization. What they're truly obsessed with is: liquidation risk, operating costs, reporting accuracy, and regulatory compliance.
Tokenization offers quantifiable improvements in every aspect. This is why all the world's top financial institutions are getting involved.
The current financial system operates on a T+2 settlement basis. This means that within two days of a transaction:
The risk of counterparty default always exists.
Funds are tied up and cannot be reused.
Reconciliation, margin, and collateral management are extremely complex.
Tokenization makes settlement near real-time (T+0), and this alone can achieve the following:
Release the large amount of funds tied up in the liquidation cycle
Eliminating counterparty risk during the liquidation period
Significantly reduce reliance on back-end systems such as clearinghouses and central counterparties.
The potential annualized efficiency gains from this shift are approximately $2.4 trillion globally. By 2030, conservative short-term annualized gains are estimated at $31 billion to $130 billion.
Giants already in action:
BlackRock launches tokenized money market fund BUIDL, with a size exceeding $1 billion.
Franklin Templeton puts its fund units on the blockchain through Benji.
JPMorgan Chase has created the Onyx platform for tokenized buybacks and collateral management.
Goldman Sachs, HSBC, UBS, and Citigroup are all piloting or building tokenized infrastructure.
They're not doing it because blockchain is trendy, but because it's cheaper, faster, and less risky.
Infrastructure builders' perspective: "Water sellers" in a trillion-dollar market
In every major transformation, the winners are those who build the infrastructure. Think of the pickaxes of the gold rush, the servers of the internet, and AWS for cloud computing.
The tokenization of real-world assets is building a completely new financial infrastructure. Successful companies in this field will become the underlying conduits for a market exceeding $11 trillion.
The essential modules for this ecosystem:
Custodian institutions: ensuring the legal correspondence between on-chain tokens and real-world assets, are one of the most critical roles in the ecosystem.
Compliance layer: KYC/AML, investor verification, geographical restrictions, cross-border compliance, all procedural.
Issuance platform: Enables anyone to legally and easily tokenize assets.
Clearing and settlement infrastructure: Enables instant clearing and connects on-chain and traditional banking systems.
Oracles and data: Connecting net worth, interest rates, defaults, housing prices, and commodity prices to the blockchain is the foundation for token pricing.
Legal and structural services: SPV, trust, fund structure, without a legal underlying layer, tokens are just a string of numbers.
Emerging Markets Perspective: The Neglected Real Revolution
This is rarely discussed in Western financial circles, but it may be the most important part: for billions of people in emerging markets, tokenization is not "better finance," but the first financial system that truly serves them.
Financial difficulties in many emerging markets:
High inflation and rapid depreciation of the local currency;
A large portion of the population lacks bank accounts or has inadequate financial services;
Capital controls prevent the allocation of foreign currency and overseas assets;
Cross-border remittance fees are 5%–10%, and the process takes several days.
Local asset returns are extremely low and cannot keep up with inflation.
Tokenization + stablecoins have completely changed everything:
Earn dollar returns without a US bank account. Argentinians can hold tokenized US Treasury bonds and earn dollar returns using stablecoins. All you need is a wallet and internet access; no qualified investors or wire transfers are required. In a country where the local currency is depreciating by 40% annually, this isn't just an improvement, it's a lifeline.
Stablecoins have become a savings tool. In countries with high inflation, USDC and USDT have become de facto savings methods used to preserve value. Tokenized assets further provide returns on this basis.
Ordinary people can now invest in top global assets. Previously, these assets were virtually inaccessible to ordinary people in Southeast Asia and Africa: US Treasury bonds, investment-grade bonds, private credit, and global real estate. Tokenization makes these assets fragmented and available for investment 24/7.
Instant, low-cost cross-border transfers. Cross-border remittances are the economic lifeline of many countries, but traditional methods are characterized by high fees and slow arrival times. Stablecoins and tokenized assets can complete transactions in minutes at extremely low costs.
Real-time payroll settlement. Wages are directly recorded on the blockchain and distributed in real time, so employees don't have to wait for payday and can receive their wages at any time.
Globally, approximately 1.4 billion adults lack bank accounts, and billions more lack access to financial services. Tokenization combined with stablecoins represents the first path to truly achieve large-scale financial inclusion without relying on traditional banks.
For these people, tokenization is not just about "making finance a little better," but about making finance accessible for the first time.
Complete Benefit Map
Retail investors: Access and composability, low barriers to entry, globalization, and programmable capital.
For issuers: Faster financing, lower costs, wider investor base, and more flexible products.
Institutions: Real-time clearing, risk reduction, operating cost reduction, and increased transparency.
Regulation: On-chain traceability and compliance are embedded, transforming passive regulation into real-time and precise regulation.
Infrastructure providers: Becoming the underlying conduit of a trillion-dollar market, with huge long-term benefits.
Emerging markets: Truly achieve financial inclusion and address structural issues such as inflation, regulation, and service gaps.
A sober warning about risks is necessary.
Tokenization is not a panacea:
Unable to repair substandard assets
Liquidity not guaranteed
Risks will not disappear out of thin air.
Tokenized bonds can still default, and tokenized real estate can still depreciate. If the legal structure is weak, the custody is unreliable, the oracles are fraudulent, and the issuer does not operate the assets, the token is just a piece of paper.
All the benefits are real and supported by logic and reality, but they will only be realized if the legal, custodial, compliance, and operational aspects are all done right.
Tokens are just the final step; everything at the bottom is what truly matters.
Tokenization isn't magic; it's infrastructure. And infrastructure only functions when it's built correctly.
So, who benefits the most?
To be honest: it depends on the time frame.
In the short term: Institutions and issuers win first.
It immediately saves real money in liquidation, compliance, and operations. It doesn't need retail investors or a secondary market; all it needs is better infrastructure.
Mid-term: Infrastructure and technology providers win
The market size is expected to reach $11 trillion by 2030, and companies that provide custody, compliance, issuance, and liquidation services will become the industry standard.
In the long run: retail investors and emerging market participants will ultimately benefit the most.
When infrastructure matures, compliance stabilizes, and the secondary market deepens, anyone in the world can use their mobile phone to invest in any asset 24/7.
Therefore, the answer to "who benefits the most" is not a specific group of people, but rather: everyone will benefit, just at different times, for different reasons, and in different ways.
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