Citi predicts the global market for tokenized securities will surge from $17 billion today to $5.5 trillion by 2030, with a range of $2.7 trillion to $8.2 trillion depending on adoption speed.
The report, titled "Tokenization 2030: Wall Street On-Chain," highlights three major catalysts. First, traditional market infrastructure giants DTCC, Nasdaq, and NYSE owner ICE are embedding tokenization into their core systems, with DTCC launching a pilot in July and a full platform in October. Nasdaq received SEC approval for tokenized stock trading.
Second, stablecoins-expected to reach $1.9 trillion by 2030-will generate ~$1 trillion in demand for U.S. Treasury bills and $2.6 trillion for tokenized equities, enabling instant settlement. Third, the U.S. Clarity Act advanced to a full Senate vote after a 15-9 bipartisan committee approval.
Citi assumes 10% of the T-bill market and 3% of U.S. public equities will be tokenized by decade's end. The report notes that private credit and private equity will remain smaller, at $100 billion each globally.
The biggest beneficiaries will be "Structural Orchestrators"-large banks and investment firms controlling both real assets and digital cash rails. Citi draws a parallel to E-ZPass adoption, noting that old and new systems will run in parallel before full automation.