Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo said he believes tokenized stocks and ETFs, not private credit or Treasury products, will be the asset class that ultimately propels the real-world assets (RWA) market into the trillions.
Speaking on an ETHConf panel in New York on Tuesday, Domingo argued that bringing stocks and exchange-traded funds online could unlock a much larger market than the current tokenized assets industry of around $30 billion.
“The entire global stock and ETF market is probably $150 trillion,” Domingo said. “Only if a small percentage of that, like 2% or 3%, is moved onto the chain, that gets you closer to that $5 trillion.”
The comments come as Securitize prepares to go public and seeks to expand its role as one of the largest tokenization providers to institutions, including BlackRock.
As tokenized U.S. Treasuries have become the dominant RWA category over the past two years, Domingo argued that tokenized stocks could become the sector’s next major growth driver. Securitize announced partnerships with the New York Stock Exchange and transfer agent Computershare aimed at enabling on-chain trading and settlement of stocks.
Domingo also made a distinction between what he considers “real” tokenized stocks and the growing number of blockchain-based stock products offered outside the United States.
“A lot of people today say they tokenize stocks, but not stocks,” he said, arguing that many offerings rely on derivatives or synthetic structures rather than direct ownership of the underlying stocks.
According to Domingo, the long-term goal is for blockchain-based securities to offer investors the same rights as traditional stocks while benefiting from instant settlement, 24/7 transferability, and deeper integration with decentralized finance.
Domingo argued that public blockchains, particularly Ethereum, remain the preferred infrastructure for institutional tokenization despite concerns over transparency and compliance. Securitize uses smart contracts to restrict ownership to approved investors while allowing assets to move across networks without permission.
Looking ahead, Domingo said he expects blockchain-based markets to grow alongside existing financial infrastructure before gradually absorbing a larger share of the business.
“Traditional markets will remain,” he said. “At the same time, we will see the emergence of a new market which will operate on blockchain rails and will be much more efficient.”
Read more: BlackRock-backed tokenization company Securitize overcomes major hurdle to go public on NYSE
