Citi Sees Tokenised Assets at $8.2 Trillion by 2030

The market value of tokenised assets could hit $8.2 trillion in the next three years, led by US equity and treasury markets, as the adoption of blockchain technology accelerates, new research from Citi says.

The current value of tokenised financial assets is just above $30 billion. The US bank’s estimate for growth ranges between $2.7 and $8.2 trillion for bear and bull scenarios, with the base case pegged at $5.5 trillion. Citi expects public markets to drive this growth, as private markets, where adoption remains early-stage and structurally constrained, are expected to lag.

“The tokenisation of financial assets – the representation of securities as digital tokens on blockchain infrastructure – is moving from pilot stage toward operational deployment,” the report states. “After years of slow progress held back by regulatory uncertainty, fragmented infrastructure and the absence of on-chain settlement money, adoption is now accelerating.”

The bank highlights three major drivers of the shift towards tokenisation. Major infrastructure providers in the traditional financial space, such as the DTCC, New York Stock Exchange, and Nasdaq, are integrating tokenisation into their core operations, including core issuance as well as trading and settlement workflows.

The growth of regulated onchain money, including stablecoins and tokenised deposits, meanwhile, is creating a settlement foundation that earlier tokenisation efforts lacked. In private markets, where adoption remains early-stage and structurally constrained, Citi expects stablecoin market value to hit at least $1.6 trillion in a bear scenario.

Lastly, increasing regulatory clarity is improving across key jurisdictions, as the US Clarity Act moves toward a full Senate vote. Citi expects the transition to be gradual, with hybrid models, where tokenised and legacy systems operate in parallel, dominating in the near term. The transition could introduce operational hurdles before gains are realised, Citi says, flagging interoperability across platforms and standards and settlement assets as prerequisites for scaling.

The report also unpacks the emergence of institutions that control both asset issuance and settlement rails, which it calls “Structural Orchestrators,” and the pressure facing traditional post-trade intermediaries as settlement becomes faster and more automated.

“The path forward for tokenisation may depend less on technological capability and more on regulatory alignment, liquidity coordination and the ability to manage hybrid complexity,” Citi concludes.