Citigroup’s “Tokenization 2030: Wall Street On-Chain” report estimates that the tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market will grow to $5.5 trillion in its base case scenario, with an optimistic “bull case” projection reaching over $8 trillion by the end of the decade. [1, 2]
The report details exactly how this massive growth is expected to unfold, and where the $8 trillion figure comes from: [1, 3, 4]
1. Market Scenarios
- Base Case: $5.5 trillion
- Bull Case: $8.2 trillion
- Current Market: ~$17 billion
- Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR): Citi expects a staggering trajectory to scale from an emerging niche into a structural shift for Wall Street. [2, 5]
2. Driving Forces and Asset Classes
Unlike earlier predictions that focus primarily on private debt and illiquid real estate, Citi’s updated forecast expects liquid public markets to drive the bulk of early adoption.
- Equities: Citi projects that if just 10% of US retail investors adopt on-chain investing by 2030, tokenizing US stocks alone could generate $2.6 trillion in demand.
- Fixed Income: Up to 10% of the US Treasury bill market could be tokenized by 2030.
- Stablecoins: Growing stablecoin use could generate around $1 trillion in new demand for US Treasuries as collateral and on-chain liquidity. [8, 9]
3. Institutional Adoption & Enablers
- Infrastructure Shifts: Major legacy market makers are not just watching from the sidelines. The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), Nasdaq, and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) are actively embedding tokenization into their core platforms and workflows.
- Interoperability: The report identifies secure cross-chain connectivity, such as Chainlink CCIP, as a critical enabler for bridging legacy systems and connecting fragmented tokenized financial markets. [10]
4. The emergence of “Structural Orchestrators”
A major theme of the research is the evolution of the financial ecosystem. Citi predicts that the most successful firms in this transition will be “structural orchestrators” — institutions that control both the asset issuance and the on-chain settlement currency tracks (e.g., tokenized cash and deposits). [7, 11]
For a deep dive into the underlying data and methodology, you can read the full Citi Tokenization 2030 Report .
How to benefit from this massive shift in Tokenization of the Financial system.
Originally, we were looking for “the best crypto companies.”
What we’re really looking for are “the companies that own the toll booths of digital capital markets.”
That is exactly where the new Citi report was pointed. Citi is no longer asking whether tokenization will happen—it assumes it will. The question becomes who captures the economics as trillions of dollars of securities move on chain. Citi’s base case projects tokenized financial assets growing from roughly $17 billion today to about $5.5 trillion by 2030, driven by public equities, Treasuries, stablecoins, and institutional market infrastructure rather than private-market experiments.
Developed out of our LOTM previous writings, the ecosystem naturally divides into five layers.
Layer 1 — Settlement Networks
These are the blockchains where assets ultimately live.
Highest conviction remains:
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum
- Solana
If Citi is correct, trillions of dollars eventually need settlement networks.
Layer 2 — Financial Infrastructure
These are the businesses building Wall Street’s digital plumbing.
This is where this becomes very interested in:
- Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN)
- Galaxy Digital (GLXY)
- BitGo (BTGO)
- Figure Technology Solutions (FIGR)
These companies provide custody, settlement, trading, compliance, and institutional access.
This layer ultimately becomes more valuable than most individual tokenized assets because every transaction passes through it.
Layer 3 — Tokenization Rails
This is probably the layer where we have become increasingly aligned.
My highest-conviction names remain:
- Circle Internet Group (CRCL)
- Chainlink (LINK)
- Figure Technology Solutions (FIGR)
- Robinhood Markets (HOOD)
Why?
Because someone has to provide:
- identity
- compliance
- pricing
- custody
- settlement
- interoperability
Chainlink could become one of the biggest winners because tokenized assets are of limited value if they cannot securely communicate across different blockchains and financial systems. Citi also highlights interoperability as a key requirement for scaling tokenized markets.
Layer 4 — Digital Capital Companies
This is the new category we’ve been developing.
Examples include:
- Strategy (MSTR*)
- Strive Asset Management (ASST*)
- xTAO Inc. (XTAIF*)
- SharpLink (SBET*)
- Forward Industries (FWDI*)
These companies aren’t simply software firms.
They are becoming digitally native balance sheets that compound digital assets over time.
This category could become much larger than today’s Bitcoin treasury companies.
Layer 5 — AI + Digital Capital
This is the part; Wall Street is still underestimating.
We have discussed this several times.
AI agents will eventually need to:
- borrow capital
- lend capital
- buy assets
- sell assets
- hedge positions
- settle transactions
That leads naturally toward:
- Bittensor
- xTAO
- AI financial infrastructure
The convergence of AI and tokenized finance could create an entirely new layer of autonomous capital markets.
IF we build a concentrated 5–10 year portfolio today, Interestingly, it is very close to the framework we’ve been developing:
- BTC — digital reserve asset. (Multiple ETFs or DATs – our favorite is ASST)
- SOL/ETH — settlement networks. (SBET for ETH and FWDR for SOL)
- LINK — interoperability and tokenization infrastructure.
- COIN — institutional gateway.
- GLXY — institutional digital asset ecosystem.
- CRCL — stablecoin infrastructure.
- FIGR — tokenized lending and private-credit infrastructure.
- BTGO — institutional custody.
- ASST/xTAO — digital capital companies.
Notice what is not on that list.
We are not primarily trying to pick the individual tokenized stocks or bonds that will exist in 2030.
We are trying to own the companies that earn a fee every time someone else tokenizes an asset.
This is exactly how investors became wealthy during earlier infrastructure build-outs:
- Railroads made fortunes during westward expansion.
- Semiconductor companies benefited from the PC era.
- Internet infrastructure companies captured value during the web boom.
- Cloud infrastructure providers benefited from the cloud era.
Tokenization is likely to follow the same pattern. The largest long-term winners may not be the tokenized assets themselves, but the infrastructure providers that issue, secure, move, settle, and connect those assets.
One final observation: over the past few weeks, our investment framework has become much more coherent. Rather than chasing isolated ideas, we’re organizing our portfolio around a Digital Capital Stack—settlement, infrastructure, tokenization, AI, and applications. This is a stronger way to invest in a structural trend because it diversifies across the layers where value is likely to accumulate, while still keeping your focus on high-conviction opportunities over the next five to ten years.
Produced by LivingOffTheMarket.com written by Tom Linzmeier with assistance from a blend of AI Platforms.
Accounts related to LOTM have ownership positions in xTAO Inc*, Figure Tech*, SBET*, FWDR*, Galaxy Digital* and TAO*, LINK*, ASST*, FWDR*, MSTR*.. These and other names mentioned in this report may be bought or sold without notice to readers of LOTM.
This is not Investment advice nor is it stock recommendations. Your financial situation is unique to you. Do your due diligence in a manner as it applies to your situation.
LOTM Research & Consulting Service
* An account related to LOTM holds a position in this security.
Neither LOTM nor Tom Linzmeier is a Registered Investment Advisor.
Please refer to our web site for full disclosure at www.LivingOffTheMarket.com ZTA Capital Group, Inc.
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