Tokenization, who exactly benefits from it?

Written by: Zeus

Compiled by: Saoirse, Foresight News

I talked about this topic last week, and Andy from Rollup also asked related questions. Everyone has been asking: Who are the real beneficiaries of tokenization of real-world assets?

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

Retail Perspective: From Bystander to Participant

For decades, retail investors have been systematically excluded from high-yield assets. It is not because the assets are too complex, but because the traditional financial system is designed for large funds, qualified investors, and inefficient clearing, making small investments not worthwhile.

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

Consider what it is like for retail investors wanting to invest in private credit now:

The threshold is usually between $250,000 and $1,000,000
Must be a qualified investor
Locked up for 3 to 7 years
Almost no secondary market
Completely dependent on fund managers

However, once these funds are tokenized:

Fragmented ownership: You can invest with $100 instead of $1,000,000. Smart contracts solve the problem of high management costs for small amounts.
24/7 trading: There are no opening or closing times, no clearing windows, no waiting for bank transfers.
Global reach: Retail investors in Lagos, Jakarta, and São Paulo can buy the same tokenized treasury fund as investors in Manhattan.
Composability: Tokenized assets are programmable capital. They can be used for lending collateral, treasury strategies, and cross-platform circulation without involving brokers.

On a deeper level, what retail investors gain is not just "buying the same things cheaper" but an entirely new set of financial behaviors.

In one afternoon, they can hold tokenized U.S. treasuries, use them as collateral to borrow stablecoins, and reinvest in yield strategies, all while self-custodying and without needing to call any financial advisors.

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

Issuer Perspective: Faster Financing, Broader Channels, Lower Costs

For issuers, the logic is straightforward: tokenization allows for faster financing, lower costs, and exponentially expands the pool of investors. All issuers around the world care about these three points, and tokenization can meet them simultaneously.

The changes from traditional issuance to tokenized issuance include:

Traditional settlements can take weeks to months, while tokenization can be completed in minutes to hours.
Traditionally relies on custodians, transfers, brokers, and clearing institutions; tokenization uses smart contracts to complete distribution, compliance, and clearing.
Traditionally limited by geography, regulation, and thresholds; tokenization is global, available 24/7, and accessible to small investors.
Traditional manual reconciliation, quarterly reports, and management of shareholder registers are extremely costly; tokenization allows for automated reporting, transparency on-chain, and real-time data.
Traditional product structures are rigid; tokenization supports layered design, flexible redemption, and dynamic yield mechanisms.

Traditional private credit funds typically serve only 50 to 200 institutions and take months for a round of financing. Tokenized funds can serve thousands of investors: compliant processes, digital account openings, and extremely low thresholds enable participation from retail investors, small family offices, and crypto-native institutions.

Tokenization also brings new product design capabilities:

Creating different risk/yield layered products within a smart contract
Flexible redemptions by day/week/month, automatically executed by code
Dynamic yield mechanisms based on on-chain data
Hybrid products combining fixed income and DeFi yields

These options are prohibitively costly in traditional finance but are straightforward within a tokenized system.

Institutional Perspective: Clearing, Transparency, Structural Risk Reduction

Institutions do not care about cryptocurrency concepts or decentralization ideologies. What they are truly obsessed with is: clearing risk, operational costs, report accuracy, and regulatory compliance.

Tokenization quantifiably improves each of these aspects. This is why top global financial institutions are getting involved.

Currently, the financial system operates on at least T+2 clearing. This means that within two days of a transaction:

The counterparty default risk is always present
Funds are tied up and cannot be reused
Reconciliation, margin, and collateral management are extremely complex

Tokenization transforms clearing into nearly real-time (T+0); this alone can:

Release a substantial amount of funds tied up in the clearing cycle
Eliminate counterparty risk during the clearing period
Significantly reduce reliance on clearing houses and central counterparties

This shift could yield a global potential annual efficiency gain of approximately $2.4 trillion. By 2030, conservative short-term annual gains are projected to be between $31 billion and $130 billion.

Giant institutions already taking action include:

BlackRock has launched the tokenized money market fund BUIDL, exceeding $1 billion in size
Franklin Templeton is putting fund shares on-chain through BENJI
JPMorgan is building the Onyx platform for tokenized repos and collateral management
Goldman Sachs, HSBC, UBS, and Citibank are all piloting or building tokenized infrastructure

They're not doing this because blockchain is trendy, but because it is cheaper, faster, and lower risk.

Infrastructure Builder Perspective: The "Water Sellers" of a Trillion-Dollar Market

In every significant transformation, the winners are those who build the infrastructure. The pickaxes of the gold rush, the servers of the internet, the AWS of cloud computing.

Tokenization of real-world assets is establishing an entirely new financial infrastructure. Companies that succeed will become the foundational pipelines of a market exceeding $11 trillion.

The necessary modules for this ecosystem include:

Custodians: Ensure the legal correspondence between on-chain tokens and real assets; one of the most critical roles in the ecosystem.
Compliance layer: KYC/AML, investor certification, geographic restrictions, cross-border compliance, all programmatic.
Issuance platforms: Enable anyone to legally and simply complete asset tokenization.
Clearing and settlement infrastructure: Achieve instantaneous clearing, connecting on-chain systems with traditional banking.
Oracles and data: Connect net worth, interest rates, defaults, real estate prices, and commodity prices to the chain, forming the basis for token pricing.
Legal and structural services: SPVs, trusts, and fund structures; without a legal foundation, tokens are just a string of numbers.

Emerging Market Perspective: The Overlooked True Revolution

This is rarely discussed in Western finance, but it might be the most crucial part: for billions of people in emerging markets, tokenization is not "better finance," but the first true financial system that serves them.

Many financial difficulties in emerging markets include:

High inflation and rapid depreciation of local currency;
Large populations lacking bank accounts or sufficient financial services;
Capital controls preventing allocation of foreign currency and overseas assets;
Cross-border remittance fees of 5%–10%, taking several days;
Local asset yields are too low to outpace inflation.

Tokenization + stablecoins completely changes all of this:

No need for a U.S. bank account to earn dollar returns. Argentines can hold tokenized U.S. treasuries and earn dollar returns using stablecoins. All that is needed is a wallet and internet; no qualified investor status, no wire transfers required. In countries where the local currency depreciates 40% in a year, this is not just an improvement; it's a lifesaver.
Stablecoins become a savings tool. In high-inflation countries, USDC and USDT have already become effective means of preserving value. Tokenized assets provide additional yield on top of that.
Ordinary people can invest in global top-tier assets. Everyday people in Southeast Asia and Africa, who previously had almost no access to: U.S. treasuries, investment grade bonds, private credit, global real estate. Tokenization allows these assets to be fragmented and available for investment 24/7.
Instant, low-cost cross-border transfer. Cross-border remittances are the economic lifeline for many countries, with traditional fees being high and transfers slow. Stablecoins and tokenized assets can complete transactions in minutes at a very low cost.
Real-time payroll settlement. Salaries can be distributed directly on-chain in real-time, allowing employees to access their funds without waiting for payday.

Approximately 1.4 billion adults globally lack bank accounts, and billions are underserved by financial services. Tokenization + stablecoins is the first path to achieving large-scale inclusive finance without reliance on traditional banks.

For these individuals, tokenization is not just about "making finance a bit better," but about making finance accessible for the first time.

Complete Benefit Spectrum

Retail Investors: Gain access and composability, low thresholds, globalization, and programmable capital.
Issuers: Faster financing, lower costs, a broader investor base, and more flexible products.
Institutions: Real-time clearing, reduced risk, reduced operational costs, and increased transparency.
Regulators: Traceable on-chain data, embedded compliance, shifting from passive to real-time precise regulation.
Infrastructure Providers: Become foundational pipelines for a trillion-dollar market, yielding long-term benefits.
Emerging Markets: Truly achieve financial inclusion, addressing structural issues like inflation, controls, and service gaps.

Essential Risk Reminders

Tokenization is not a panacea:

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

Tokenized bonds can still default, and tokenized real estate can still depreciate. Without a strong legal structure, reliable custody, trustworthy oracles, and operational accountability from issuers, tokens can be worthless.

All benefits genuinely exist, with logical and practical support, but they will only be realized if legal, custody, compliance, and operational frameworks are all executed correctly.

Tokens are just the last link; everything beneath them is what truly matters.

Tokenization is not magic; it is infrastructure. And infrastructure must be built correctly to function.

So, who benefits the most?

To be frank: It depends on the time horizon.

Short term: Institutions and issuers win first

They save real money immediately on clearing, compliance, and operations; retail investors and secondary markets are not needed; just better infrastructure.

Medium term: Infrastructure and technology providers win

The market size is expected to reach $11 trillion by 2030, and companies delivering custody, compliance, issuance, and clearing will become industry standards.

Long term: Retail investors and emerging market populations ultimately benefit the most

When infrastructure matures, compliance stabilizes, and secondary markets deepen, anyone globally will be able to invest in any asset simply using their mobile phone, 24/7.

Therefore, the answer to "who benefits the most" is not a specific group of people, but rather: everyone will benefit, just at different times, for different reasons, and in different ways.

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。