“ETFs were considered weapons of mass destruction,” Hoffman said, recalling the skepticism that surrounded the structure before it became one of the primary ways investors accessed the markets.
When he joined the ETF industry in the early 2000s, the market held about $200 billion in assets, he said. Today, it is a nearly $20 trillion global asset class, according to a PwC report.
He said tokenization was following a similar path, but much faster than ETFs.
“Every market that digitalizes gets bigger,” he said. “And tokenization is actually the digitalization of capital markets.”
Building for an agent-driven future
For Hoffman, tokenization will become the basis for what comes next: AI-powered financial services.
He said he envisions a future in which autonomous agents continuously monitor markets and allocate capital through professionally managed portfolios updated in real time as conditions change.
“Our end state will be professionally managed portfolios, in real time and adapting to market circumstances and data changes,” he said.
To achieve this, the industry first needs tokenized assets, premium on-chain brokerage infrastructure, and asset management strategies that can be executed natively on blockchain networks.
Ondo is building that vision, he said. The company already offers tokenized U.S. Treasury products and plans to expand into stocks, ETFs and perpetual futures through its tokenized marketplace.
