Grayscale positions Chainlink as critical infrastructure for the growing tokenized assets market, according to a new research report.
The asset manager’s research arm claims that Chainlink’s suite of services, covering real-world data feeds, compliance tools and blockchain interoperability, resolves many of the real-world frictions that block broader adoption of blockchain-based finance.
Chainlink is best known for powering “oracles,” which feed off-chain data such as asset prices to smart contracts. But its new offers go much further. The Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), for example, allows tokens and messages to move between chains, which was highlighted in a test with Kinexys and JP Morgan’s Ondo Finance.
According to the report, Grayscale views Chainlink’s LINK token as providing diversified exposure to the infrastructure layer of crypto. “Chainlink is the essential connective tissue between crypto and traditional finance,” the report states. “This can already be considered essential infrastructure in blockchain-based finance.”
The report values the tokenization market today at $35 billion, which is still a fraction of the global asset base, but notes that Chainlink’s integration with the likes of S&P Global and FTSE Russell puts it in a strong position as traditional markets explore on-chain solutions.
Currently, Grayscale added, the total market for tokenized assets represents just 0.01% of the total value of global fixed income and equities. The growth of the market for tokenized assets, the company added, could “imply growth” in demand for Chainlink’s offerings.
Although still small compared to global capital markets, the company expects this figure to increase as banks, asset managers and data providers explore the blockchain rails. It has already grown from around $5 billion at the start of 2023 to its current figure.
The report comes at a time when Grayscale has filed to convert its $29 million Chainlink Trust into an exchange-traded fund that would trade under the ticker GLNK on NYSE Arca. If approved, it would be the first US-listed Chainlink ETF and one of the first to feature a staking component.
