Citi has released a bold forecast, predicting the tokenized securities market will expand to $5.5 trillion by 2030. The projection underscores the growing institutional appetite for blockchain-based financial instruments.
The bank's analysis identifies stablecoins as a primary catalyst. According to Citi, stablecoin demand alone will generate demand for up to $1 trillion in onchain U.S. Treasury bills and $2.6 trillion for tokenized stocks. These figures suggest a massive shift toward digital representation of traditional assets.
The report arrives amid increasing regulatory clarity around tokenization in the United States and Europe. While the SEC has not issued definitive rules for tokenized securities, policymakers are actively exploring frameworks that could accelerate adoption within traditional finance.
If realized, the tokenized securities market would represent a significant portion of the global capital markets. The $5.5 trillion projection would dwarf the current market capitalization of the entire cryptocurrency sector, which stands at roughly $2.7 trillion as of mid-2025.
Skeptics question whether regulatory hurdles and infrastructure bottlenecks can be resolved in time to meet such an ambitious timeline. Legacy settlement systems and custody standards remain fragmented, potentially slowing the pace of tokenization across major asset classes.