Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo said he believes tokenized stocks and ETFs, not private credit or Treasury products, will be the asset class that ultimately drives the real-world asset (RWA) market to trillions.
Speaking at an ETHConf panel in New York on Tuesday, Domingo argued that bringing stocks and exchange-traded funds to the chain could unlock a much larger market than the current roughly $30 billion sector of tokenized assets.
“The entire stock and ETF market around the world is probably about $150 trillion,” Domingo said. “Only if a small percentage of that, like 2% or 3%, moves up the chain, will you get very close 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 for institutions, including BlackRock.
While tokenized U.S. Treasuries have become the dominant RWA category over the past two years, Domingo argued that tokenized stocks could become the industry’s next big growth driver. Securitize has announced partnerships with the New York Stock Exchange and transfer agent Computershare aimed at enabling on-chain stock trading and settlement.
Domingo also made a distinction between what he considers “real” tokenized stocks and the growing number of blockchain-based securities products offered outside the US.
“A lot of people today who say they tokenize stocks are not tokenizing 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 the same rights to investors as traditional stocks while benefiting from instant settlement, 24/7 transferability, and deeper integration with decentralized finance.
Domingo maintained that public blockchains, particularly Ethereum, remain the preferred infrastructure for institutional tokenization despite concerns around 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 develop alongside existing financial infrastructure before gradually absorbing a greater proportion of activity.
“Traditional markets are going to remain,” he said. “We are going to see a new parallel market emerge that will run on blockchain rails and will be much more efficient.”
Read More: BlackRock-Backed Tokenization Company Securitize Clears Key Hurdle to Go Public on NYSE
