Citrini sees a tokenization boom. The harder question is who profits

That isn't as obvious as it sounds.

Citrini argued that tokenization could lift the broader crypto ecosystem, but more assets moving onchain doesn't automatically make bitcoin BTC$81 577,53, ether ETH$2 409,93 or whichever blockchain hosts them the best trade.

Arthur Hayes, BitMEX's co-founder and the chief investment officer of Maelstrom, framed that problem more bluntly.

RWA tokenization has been talked about for a decade, he said in a recent interview with The Rollup, and simply taking a security that already sits in a digital database and recording it somewhere else doesn't necessarily create much value.

“Okay, doing better bookkeeping. Thank you,” Hayes said. “Where are you actually going to make money in tokenization?”

There are several possible answers.

Tokenized stocks can generate issuance fees, trading revenue, stablecoin demand, lending activity and collateral usage, but those economics can land in very different places.

Christian Magoon, CEO of Amplify ETFs, which runs the tokenization-focused TKNQ fund, thinks infrastructure providers could become “toll booths on the blockchain toll roads,” while distribution may be just as valuable: Coinbase, Robinhood, banks and wealth platforms who already have the customer relationships.

Jeff Dorman, CIO of investment firm Arca, told CoinDesk he expects the actual tokenization process to become increasingly commoditized as competition grows.