Tokenization: Who Truly Benefits?

Written by: Zeus

Translated by: Saoirse, Foresight News

I discussed this topic last week, and Andy from Rollup also asked related questions. People have been asking: who are the true beneficiaries of real-world asset tokenization?

The real answer is: almost everyone will benefit, but the reasons, timing, and underlying logic are completely different.

Retail Investor Perspective: From Bystander to Participant

For decades, retail investors have been systematically excluded from high-yield assets. Not because the assets are too complex, but because the traditional financial system itself is designed for large sums, qualified investors, and inefficient clearing—small investments are simply not cost-effective.

Tokenization is not just about lowering the barrier to entry; it directly dismantles the entire system that creates those barriers.

Consider the current situation for retail investors wanting to invest in private credit:

• Usually requires $250,000–$1 million
• Must be a qualified investor
• Lock-up period of 3–7 years
• Almost no secondary market
• Fully controlled by fund managers

Once such funds are tokenized:

• Fragmented holdings: You don’t need $1 million; $100 can suffice. Smart contracts solve the high management costs for small amounts.
• 24/7 trading: No opening or closing hours, no settlement windows, no waiting for bank transfers.
• Global access: Retail investors in Lagos, Jakarta, São Paulo, and Manhattan can buy the same tokenized government bond fund.
• Composability: Tokenized assets are programmable capital. They can be used for lending collateral, treasury strategies, cross-platform circulation—no need for brokers.

Deeper level: Retail investors gain not just “cheaper access to the same products,” but a whole new set of financial behaviors.

Within a single afternoon, they can hold tokenized US Treasuries, use them as collateral to borrow stablecoins, and reinvest in yield strategies—all self-custodied, without calling a financial advisor.

Before tokenization, retail investors were spectators in the global capital markets. After, they become participants. The difference is enormous.

Issuer Perspective: Faster Financing, Broader Channels, Lower Costs

For issuers, the logic is simple: tokenization accelerates fundraising, reduces costs, and exponentially expands the investor base. All issuers worldwide care about these three points, and tokenization can meet all simultaneously.

Changes from traditional issuance to tokenized issuance:

• Traditional settlement takes weeks to months; tokenized settlement takes minutes to hours.
• Traditional requires custody, transfer, brokers, clearinghouses; tokenization uses smart contracts for distribution, compliance, and clearing.
• Traditional is limited by geography, regulation, and barriers; tokenization is global, 24/7, and allows small investments.
• Manual reconciliation, quarterly reports, shareholder registry management are costly; tokenization offers automated reports, on-chain transparency, real-time data.
• Rigid product structures; tokenization supports layered design, flexible redemptions, dynamic yield mechanisms.

Traditional private credit funds typically serve 50–200 institutions over months. Tokenized funds can serve thousands of investors: compliant, automated onboarding, extremely low thresholds, accessible to retail, small family offices, and crypto-native institutions.

Tokenization also enables entirely new product designs:

• Layered products with different risk/yield profiles within a single smart contract
• Flexible redemptions daily/weekly/monthly, automatically executed by code
• Dynamic yield mechanisms based on on-chain data
• Hybrid products combining fixed income and DeFi yields

These are costly or impossible in traditional finance but straightforward within a tokenized system.

Institution Perspective: Clearing, Transparency, Structural Risk Reduction

Institutions don’t care about crypto concepts or decentralization. What they truly care about are: settlement risk, operational costs, report accuracy, and regulatory compliance.

Tokenization offers quantifiable improvements in all these areas. That’s why top global financial institutions are entering the space.

The current financial system typically clears in T+2. This means, within two days after a trade:

• Counterparty default risk persists
• Funds are locked and cannot be reused
• Reconciliation, margin, collateral management are highly complex

Tokenization transforms clearing into near real-time (T+0), which can:

• Free up large amounts of capital tied in clearing cycles
• Eliminate counterparty risk during clearing
• Significantly reduce reliance on clearinghouses, CCPs, and backend systems

This shift could generate an estimated global annual efficiency gain of about $2.4 trillion. By 2030, a conservative short-term annual benefit ranges from $31 billion to $130 billion.

Major players already active:

• BlackRock launched the tokenized money market fund BUIDL, with over $1 billion AUM
• Franklin Templeton tokenized fund shares via BENJI
• J.P. Morgan built the Onyx platform for tokenized repurchase agreements and collateral management
• Goldman Sachs, HSBC, UBS, Citi are all piloting or building tokenization infrastructure

They’re not doing this because blockchain is trendy, but because it’s cheaper, faster, and less risky.

Infrastructure Builders’ Perspective: Trillions Market as “Water Sellers”

Every major transformation’s winners are those building the infrastructure—pickaxes during the gold rush, servers during the internet boom, AWS for cloud computing.

Real-world asset tokenization is constructing a new financial infrastructure. Companies that do it well will become the underlying pipelines for a market exceeding $11 trillion.

Essential modules of this ecosystem:

• Custodians: Ensure legal correspondence between on-chain tokens and real assets—one of the most critical roles.
• Compliance Layer: Automate KYC/AML, investor verification, regional restrictions, cross-border compliance.
• Issuance Platforms: Enable anyone to legally and easily tokenize assets.
• Clearing and Settlement Infrastructure: Achieve instant settlement, connect on-chain with traditional banking systems.
• Oracles and Data: Link net asset value, interest rates, defaults, property prices, commodities—fundamental for token pricing.
• Legal and Structural Services: SPV, trusts, fund structures—without solid legal foundations, tokens are just digital numbers.

Emerging Markets’ Perspective: The True Revolution Being Overlooked

Western finance rarely discusses this, but it might be the most important part: for billions in emerging markets, tokenization isn’t just “better finance,” but the first truly serving financial system.

Many financial dilemmas in emerging markets:

• High inflation, rapid currency depreciation
• Large populations without bank accounts or with inadequate financial services
• Capital controls preventing foreign currency and overseas asset allocation
• Cross-border remittance fees of 5–10%, taking days
• Local assets yield very low returns, unable to beat inflation

Tokenization + stablecoins can change all this:

• Earn USD yields without US bank accounts. Argentinians can hold tokenized US Treasuries, earn USD with stablecoins. No need for qualified investors or wire transfers—just a wallet and internet. In countries where the local currency depreciates 40% annually, this is not just an improvement but a lifeline.
• Stablecoins become savings tools. In high-inflation countries, USDC, USDT are de facto savings means for value preservation. Tokenized assets add yield on top.
• Ordinary people can invest in top global assets. In Southeast Asia, Africa—previously nearly inaccessible: Treasuries, investment-grade bonds, private credit, global real estate. Tokenization fragments these assets, making them investable 24/7.
• Instant, low-cost cross-border transfers. Traditional remittances are costly and slow; stablecoins and tokenized assets settle in minutes at minimal cost.
• Real-time salary payments. Salaries can be paid directly on-chain, employees can access funds anytime, not just on payday.

About 1.4 billion adults worldwide lack bank accounts; billions more have limited access. Tokenization + stablecoins is the first path to large-scale inclusive finance that doesn’t rely on traditional banks.

For these people, tokenization isn’t just “improving finance,” but making finance accessible for the first time.

Complete Benefit Map

• Retail investors: Access rights, composability, low barriers, global reach, programmable capital.
• Issuers: Faster fundraising, lower costs, broader investor base, more flexible products.
• Institutions: Real-time clearing, risk reduction, operational cost savings, increased transparency.
• Regulators: On-chain traceability, embedded compliance, from passive to real-time precise supervision.
• Infrastructure providers: Become the underlying pipelines of a trillion-dollar market, with long-term huge returns.
• Emerging markets: Truly achieve financial inclusion, solve structural issues like inflation, controls, and service gaps.

Necessary Risk Reminders

Tokenization is not a panacea:

• Cannot fix poor-quality assets
• Does not guarantee liquidity
• Will not eliminate risks altogether

Tokenized bonds can default; tokenized real estate can decline in value. If legal structures are weak, custody unreliable, or oracles falsified, tokens are just worthless paper.

All benefits are real, logical, and supported by reality, but only if law, custody, compliance, and operations are all correctly implemented.

Tokens are just the final link; the underlying fundamentals are truly critical.

Tokenization is not magic; it’s infrastructure. And only when built correctly can it operate effectively.

So, who benefits the most?

Honestly: it depends on the timeline.

• Short-term: institutions and issuers win first

Immediately saving real money on clearing, compliance, operations—no retail investors, no secondary markets—just better infrastructure.

• Mid-term: infrastructure and technology providers win

By 2030, the market could reach $11 trillion; companies providing custody, compliance, issuance, and clearing will become industry standards.

• Long-term: retail investors and emerging market populations benefit most

As infrastructure matures, compliance stabilizes, and secondary markets deepen, anyone worldwide can use a phone to invest in any asset 24/7.

Therefore, the answer to “who benefits the most” isn’t a single group, but everyone—just at different times, for different reasons, in different ways.