Tracy Jin, the chief operating officer at the MEXC crypto exchange, warns that tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs) carries a substantial amount of centralized risks

RWA tokenization is projected to become a multi-trillion sector in the next decade as the world's assets come onchain, which will increase the velocity of money and extend the reach of capital markets worldwide.

Tracy Jin, the chief operating officer at MEXC crypto exchange, warns that tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs) carries a substantial amount of centralized risks.

In an interview with discusses the pros and cons of RWA tokenization, saying that as long as tokenized assets remain under the purview of state regulators and centralized intermediaries, then “tokenization will simply be a new version of old financial infrastructure and not a financial revolution.”

Jin’s remarks come as the total market cap of the RWA sector surpassed $19 billion onchain, excluding the stablecoin sector, which hit a new all-time high of over $200 billion in December.

RWA tokenization is projected to become a multi-trillion sector in the next decade as the world’s assets come onchain, which will increase the velocity of money and extend the reach of capital markets.

According to a new report from Tren Finance, which surveyed large financial institutions including Citi, Standard Chartered, and McKinsey & Company, the participants predicted the RWA market to reach anywhere between $4 trillion to $30 trillion by 2030.

According to RWA.XYZ, there are currently over $19.6 billion in tokenized real-world assets onchain.

Institutions provide different forecasts for the future of the tokenized RWA market. / Tren Finance

McKinsey & Company predicted the RWA sector will encompass between $2 trillion to $4 trillion by 2030 — a relatively modest assessment compared to other forecasts.

Institutions like Standard Chartered and executives at the blockchain network Polygon say that the RWA market will reach $30 trillion in the next decade.

Tokenized real-world assets include stocks, bonds, real estate, intellectual property rights, energy, art, private credit, debt instruments, fiat currency, commodities, and collectibles.