Why Tokenized Assets Are Like a Magic Trick: Now You See Them, Now You Don’t!

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Markets

What to know:

  • Ah, the current drivers, like tokenized treasuries-those magical slips of paper that seem to promise wealth without the burden of reality; money market funds, a veritable illusion of liquidity; and efficient collateral use by institutions, which sounds suspiciously like playing poker with your grandmother’s prized china.
  • The next frontier? Tokenized equities, private credit, and illiquid assets that are as elusive as the last piece of cake at a family gathering, all targeting the retail dream of 24/7 fractional ownership. Who wouldn’t want a sliver of a skyscraper or a share in a potted plant?

Industry leaders, those self-proclaimed prophets of finance, gathered to discuss the soaring demand for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) during a panel at Consensus Hong Kong 2026. The esteemed Evan Auyang (group president at Animoca Brands), Christian Rau (senior vice president, digital assets and blockchain at Mastercard), and Nicola White (VP of crypto institutions at Robinhood) joined moderator Marcin Kazmierczak (co-founder, RedStone). A gathering you might mistake for a secret society if it weren’t for the suits and tech jargon.

The panel echoed the audacious proclamation of BlackRock’s COO Rob Goldstein: “Digital ledgers are the most exciting development in finance since double-entry bookkeeping 700 years ago.” Oh, how we long for the days of yore when financial excitement meant merely balancing the ledger instead of juggling digital tokens!

Today, the realm of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) is firmly entrenched in institutional soil. The firmest demand seems centered on tokenized money market funds and U.S. Treasuries-those old stalwarts of financial safety-and collateral optimization products that sound like something out of a dystopian novel. Take BlackRock’s BUIDL, for instance, and pair it with Robinhood/Bitstamp offerings, and one can only wonder if we’ve truly entered a new age or merely rebranded the old one.

Yet, retail participation lags. Few brave souls in the audience dare to raise their hands to confess they hold tokenized RWAs in their wallets. Panelists pointed to Europe’s regulations, a beacon of hope, perhaps the guiding light that will launch tokenized listed equities into the stratosphere. Meanwhile, private credit, real estate, art, and private equity lurk in the shadows, waiting to pounce as companies choose to remain private longer. Truly, it’s a game of hide and seek, but who has time for such games?

The consensus? RWAs have made the leap from mere hype to tangible utility for institutions. The next wave of mainstream retail onboarding could unleash trillions in illiquid markets-imagine the chaos as barriers fall, and we’re left grappling with what it truly means to own a fraction of nothing! Ah, capitalism, you clever trickster!

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2026-02-11 06:51