Carlos Domingo, CEO of Securitize, said that the tokenization of stocks and ETFs could become the next major growth driver in the real-world assets market, rather than just the rapidly growing tokenized U.S. Treasury products of the past two years. If public market securities begin to be tokenized on a larger scale, the industry’s size could significantly expand.
Targeting stocks and ETFs
At a panel discussion at ETHConf in New York, Domingo said the global stock and ETF market is approximately $150 trillion. If just 2% to 3% of that shifted on-chain, the corresponding size could approach $5 trillion—far exceeding the current $30 billion tokenized assets market.
- The current tokenized assets market is approximately $30 billion.
- The global stock and ETF market is approximately $150 trillion.
- Linking 2% to 3% would approach $5 trillion.
Distinguish between real stocks and synthetic structures
He also noted that some so-called "tokenized stocks" on the market are not equivalent to actual stocks on the blockchain; certain products are more akin to derivatives or synthetic structures, and investors may not directly hold the underlying shares.
According to him, true stock tokenization should grant investors direct ownership rights in the underlying stock, including shareholding, voting rights, and dividends—not just price exposure.
Ethereum remains the primary choice for institutions.
In terms of infrastructure, Domingo believes that public blockchains, particularly Ethereum, remain the primary choice for institutions advancing tokenization. Securitize’s approach uses smart contracts to restrict asset access to approved investors while allowing the assets to continue circulating on the open network.
Securitize previously announced a partnership with the New York Stock Exchange and transfer agent Computershare, aiming to enable the trading and settlement of stocks on-chain. Domingo believes that traditional markets will not disappear, but parallel markets on the blockchain will gradually emerge and enhance trading efficiency.