Crypto’s Next Big Opportunity? Nasdaq CEO Highlights Tokenization’s Billion-Dollar Potential

At the recent TOKEN2049 in Singapore, Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman highlighted the significant potential for tokenization, which she says could unleash tens of billions of dollars in trapped capital.

Financial assets, such as stocks and bonds, can be represented as digital tokens through tokenization, which can be transferred using blockchain technology.

In an interview with CNBC at the TOKEN2049 conference in Singapore, Friedman highlighted growth in institutional interest over the past year, which contributed in part to the passage of the GENIUS Act in the U.S., which established a regulatory framework for stablecoins.

This increasing institutional interest is meeting demand from retail investors, who have long desired the ability to trade around the clock, Friedman added, saying the retail ecosystem “has been about 10 years ahead.”

The move towards 24/7 trading might, however, require major changes to financial infrastructure, with AI expected to play a growing role in real-time risk management.

The Nasdaq CEO believes tokenization could allow banks and financial institutions to move collateral more efficiently, freeing up tens of billions of dollars in capital, thus presenting a huge opportunity for crypto.

Interest in tokenization grows 

Along similar lines, Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, stated that companies outside the U.S. are showing interest in tokenization and access to American capital markets, adding that tokenization could help expand access to capital markets for companies around the world.

In line with this growth, tokenized stocks have grown 473% this year to a $3.75 billion market cap. Ondo leads issuers with $980 million, followed closely by xStocksFi at $954 million and Binance bStocks at $877 million, according to Token Relations.

Securitize has issued $341 million in tokenized equity, and its own SECZ is the single largest tokenized stock at $328 million.

By network, BNB Chain holds the most at $1.19 billion, followed by Ethereum at $832 million and Solana at $734 million. On October 8, Securitize launched Securitize Stocks on Solana, bringing 1:1-backed entitlements to Apple, Amazon, Tesla and nine other U.S. stocks on-chain.