A new research report argues that the biggest winners from tokenized finance may not be bitcoin or ether at all. Per CoinDesk, Citrini Research published a 79-page report titled Breaking the Wall that bets on the companies and protocols collecting fees from the shift.
đ The news
Citrini built two baskets. One holds listed stocks such as Coinbase, Robinhood, Circle, SoFi and Securitize. The other holds crypto tokens, and the firm said it is actually more excited about that group. The report states it cannot assume the majors will make new highs on this trend.
đ What is in the token basket
âą Tokenized assets: $ONDO, which offers tokenized Treasuries, stocks and perpetuals
âą Yield trading: $PENDLE, which lets users trade the future income of interest-bearing assets
âą Lending names such as Aave and Maple
âą Trading venues such as Aerodrome, Uniswap, Hyperliquid and Derive
âą Infrastructure such as Chainlink and LayerZero
đ The numbers
âą ONDO trades near $0.48, up about 3.4% in 24 hours and 28% over 30 days, per CoinGecko
âą PENDLE trades near $2.13, down about 4.9% on the day and roughly 13% over the week
âïž Bull vs bear case
Bull: if stocks, bonds and loans move onchain, the platforms that issue, trade and lend them collect fees on every step.
Bear: Citrini itself lists the risks. More volume does not always lift token prices, liquidity is split across chains, security problems could slow adoption, and token holders do not always share in protocol fees.
đ What to watch next
âą Fee data for protocols in the basket, and whether any of it reaches token holders
âą Growth in tokenized Treasuries and stocks
âą How listed names like Securitize and Circle trade against the tokens
ââââââââââââ
đĄ My take: I think the most useful part of the report is the warning, not the list. Before treating any of these as a tokenization play, check who collects the fees and whether holders see any of it.
đŹ Which matters more for tokenization winners: fees or users?
#Tokenization #RWA #DeFi