Citi projects tokenized securities and RWAs reaching $5.5 trillion by 2030. Treasuries drive early adoption. Equities add $2.6T demand. Stablecoins provide settlement. Range spans $2.7T to $8.2T. Adoption speed, not tech, determines outcome.
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Citi expects the market for tokenized securities and real-world assets to grow from about $17 billion today to $5.5 trillion by 2030. Treasury bills, public stocks, and stablecoins are the primary drivers the bank identifies in its Tokenization 2030: Wall Street On-Chain report.
The forecast carries a wide range. Citi's low estimate is $2.7 trillion; its high-end scenario reaches $8.2 trillion. The outcome depends on how quickly institutions, regulators, and market infrastructure providers adopt tokenized systems.
For traders and allocators, the question is not whether tokenization will arrive. It is which assets migrate first, which platforms capture the flow, and what could stall the transition.
Citi's report estimates that tokenized securities and real-world assets currently represent about $17 billion in value. The bank's base case projects that figure will rise to $5.5 trillion globally by 2030. The low-end scenario at $2.7 trillion assumes slow institutional adoption and regulatory fragmentation. The high-end at $8.2 trillion assumes rapid adoption, including tokenized equities and strong stablecoin demand.
The range reflects genuine uncertainty. Tokenization requires coordination between issuers, exchanges, custodians, and regulators. Any single bottleneck – settlement finality rules, custody standards, or cross-border compliance – can slow the timeline.
| Scenario | Projected Market Size (2030) | Key Assumption |
|---|---|---|
| Low | $2.7 trillion | Slow institutional adoption, regulatory fragmentation |
| Base | $5.5 trillion | Steady adoption, stablecoin growth, 10% of Treasuries tokenized |
| High | $8.2 trillion | Rapid institutional adoption, 3% of equities tokenized, strong stablecoin demand |
Key insight: The forecast's wide range signals that tokenization's path depends more on adoption speed than on technology. The infrastructure exists. The question is whether the plumbing gets connected.
Citi projects that 10% of the U.S. Treasury bill market could be tokenized by 2030. That forecast is closely tied to stablecoins. Many large stablecoin issuers already hold short-term U.S. government debt as reserves. Continued stablecoin growth could create roughly $1 trillion in new demand for Treasuries.
Tokenized Treasuries are already one of the largest categories in the real-world asset market. Recent estimates place tokenized RWAs near $31 billion to $34 billion, excluding stablecoins. Ethereum hosts a significant share of that activity.
Stablecoins provide the cash layer for onchain settlement. Investors can move between tokenized securities, funds, and Treasury products without relying on traditional settlement windows. That reduces counterparty risk and extends trading hours.
If regulators treat tokenized Treasuries as securities rather than cash equivalents, the settlement advantage could erode. The SEC's stance on stablecoins and tokenized money-market funds remains unresolved.
Stocks are another major part of Citi's outlook. The bank expects about 3% of the U.S. public equity market to move into tokenized form by 2030.
A 10% shift by everyday U.S. investors toward digital trading platforms could generate $2.6 trillion in demand for digital stocks. That would mark a clear expansion beyond crypto-native assets and into core public markets.
Tokenized equities must remain connected to legal ownership records, regulated custody, and compliance systems. Without that structure, institutional adoption will stall. Citi's report explicitly notes that tokenization needs more than blockchain wrappers.
Stablecoins remain central to this transition. They allow investors to move between tokenized securities, funds, and Treasury products without relying fully on traditional settlement windows. Citi's report suggests that continued stablecoin growth could create roughly $1 trillion in new demand for Treasuries.
Standard Chartered has a similar view. The bank expects $4 trillion in tokenized assets to move on-chain, with DeFi protocols gaining importance. Stablecoins provide the cash leg for those trades.
Banks and stablecoin issuers are competing for the digital dollar yield. See Banks vs Stablecoin Issuers: The Digital Dollar Yield War. If banks launch their own regulated stablecoins, the settlement layer could fragment.
Citi's base case assumes steady progress. Several factors could push the outcome toward the low end:
Tokenization is not a 2026 event. It is a 2028-2030 event with early signals now. The assets to watch are tokenized Treasuries, stablecoin supply, and institutional blockchain activity on Ethereum and alternative settlement layers.
For traders, the practical takeaway is to track the adoption curve, not the price of any single token. If Citi's base case holds, the market for tokenized real-world assets will grow more than 300x from current levels. That creates opportunities in infrastructure, custody, and settlement – only for those who understand the regulatory and structural risks.
Read the full Citi report for the methodology. For a broader view of the tokenization trend, see Tokenization Surge to $5.5 Trillion: Citi's Six-Year Call and crypto market analysis.
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.