Citi projects tokenized securities growing from $17B to $5.5T by 2030, with stablecoins driving $1T in Treasury demand. DTCC's July trial is the first test.
Citi now expects the tokenized securities market to grow from $17 billion today to $5.5 trillion by 2030, according to the bank’s latest forecast. The projection marks a shift from perception to reality: the companies leading this transition are not crypto startups but institutions like DTCC, Nasdaq, and ICE – the owner of the New York Stock Exchange.
Citi estimates that stablecoins, which many issuers back with U.S. Treasury bills, could reach a $1.9 trillion market value by 2030 and generate nearly $1 trillion in additional demand for government bonds. The firm also projects that 10% of the U.S. Treasury market and 3% of the U.S. stock market could be tokenized by decade’s end.
For traders and allocators, the forecast is less a price target and more a timeline document. It identifies the infrastructure, the assets, and the risks that will define whether tokenization becomes a core market structure or a stranded experiment.
The number itself – $5.5 trillion – is a 323x increase from today’s $17 billion tokenized securities market. The more telling detail is the institutional line-up behind the push. Citi’s report cites specific rollout dates and frameworks from established market infrastructure providers.
DTCC, which clears and settles the vast majority of U.S. securities trades, plans to start limited production trades of tokenized securities in July. A broader rollout is scheduled for October. Nasdaq is working on a framework for blockchain-based shares that could launch as early as 2027. ICE, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, is also exploring tokenized equities.
Key insight: The move from $17 billion to $5.5 trillion implies a 323x increase – a magnitude that depends on regulatory buy-in as much as technology.
What this means: the market is moving from proof-of-concept to commercial deployment, the timeline is staggered. DTCC’s October window is the first concrete gateway for institutional tokenized settlement.
ICE (Alpha Score 43/100, label Mixed) is directly exposed through its exploration of tokenized equities. The stock page at /stocks/ice shows a Mixed signal, which aligns with the uncertainty around timetables and regulatory clarity. Nasdaq faces a longer runway – 2027 – its framework could set the standard for exchange-traded blockchain shares. DTCC carries the most operational risk: if its July limited production trades encounter settlement failures or legal challenges, the entire tokenized securities narrative could stall.
Citi estimates that stablecoins could generate nearly $1 trillion in demand for U.S. Treasuries by 2030. That figure flows directly from the assumption that stablecoin market cap grows to $1.9 trillion and issuers continue holding large Treasury reserves. Tether, Circle, and any future regulated stablecoin issuers are the direct beneficiaries. The secondary effect is on Treasury yields: large structural demand from stablecoin reserves could compress yields in shorter maturities.
Citi forecasts that if only 10% of retail investors move to digital trading platforms, demand for tokenized stocks could reach $2.6 trillion. That assumption ties the tokenization thesis to retail adoption, which remains concentrated in crypto-native platforms today.
The rollout calendar is uneven, and each milestone carries distinct risk.
/markets/genius-act-comment-deadlines-set-crypto-policy-into-motion, could provide the policy anchor./markets/digital-euro-is-key-to-counter-stablecoin-risks-ecbs-schnabel-says), which could reduce stablecoin demand in Europe and dent the $1.9 trillion assumption.Citi’s 10% tokenized Treasury forecast implies roughly $2.5 trillion in tokenized government debt. Tokenized Treasuries already exist on networks like Ethereum, with products such as BlackRock’s BUIDL (tokenized money market fund) and Franklin Templeton’s FOBXX. The market for tokenized Treasuries was roughly $1.5 billion in early 2025. A jump to $2.5 trillion would require regulatory changes permitting direct tokenization of Treasury bonds, not just money market wrappers.
Tokenized stocks face a harder path. The 3% tokenized equity estimate would represent about $1.5 trillion in market cap. Existing offerings like Binance Stock Trading for Non-US Users: Tokenized Shares and 20x Futures (/markets/binance-stock-trading-for-non-us-users-tokenized-shares-and-20x-futures) remain limited to non-U.S. users and carry synthetic risk. Full on-chain issuance of U.S. corporate equities would require SEC approval of blockchain-based transfer agents.
The stablecoin sector is both a driver and a vulnerability. Citi’s forecast assumes stablecoins grow to $1.9 trillion – roughly 10x today’s supply. That depends on two things: continued demand for dollar-denominated crypto trading, and issuers’ willingness to hold Treasuries rather than higher-yielding riskier assets. If a major stablecoin depegs, the Treasury demand estimate collapses and the tokenization value chain breaks.
Citi’s $5.5 trillion is a forecast, not a guarantee. The July and October DTCC milestones are the first real test of whether infrastructure can support that volume. Until then, the market is betting on a timeline that has not yet produced a single institutional trade.
Prepared with AlphaScala research tooling and grounded in primary market data: live prices, fundamentals, SEC filings, hedge-fund holdings, and insider activity. Each story is checked against AlphaScala publishing rules before release. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.