By Bhaji Illuminati, CMO, Centrifuge

The tokenization industry stands at a fascinating inflection point as we enter 2025. The US election results have injected fresh momentum into the industry, suggesting we're on the cusp of a breakthrough year for crypto acceptance and blockchain adoption.

This marks my second year as Centrifuge's CMO, and it's been a year of remarkable industry maturation.

Looking Back

We've seen institutional adoption accelerate beyond pilot programs into full-scale implementations, with major financial institutions moving from cautious observation to active participation.

Traditional asset managers are increasingly exploring tokenization not just as an experimental technology, but as a core part of their future strategy. The market has evolved from theoretical discussions about use cases to tangible applications - whether in real estate, fixed-income, or private credit markets.

Most encouragingly, the conversation has shifted from "Why tokenize?" to "How do we scale?"

This evolution has been particularly evident through the Real-World Asset Summits hosted by Centrifuge, which has emerged as a key forum for meaningful dialogue between capital markets execs and crypto founders focused on the intersection of credit and crypto.

What started as an experimental conference in New York last year has organically grown into a global conversation, with 2024 seeing successful gatherings in Dubai, Austin, Singapore, Brussels, and New York. Each of these summits has served as a milestone marker, documenting the industry's progress from theoretical possibilities to practical implementations.

As we look ahead, the insights shared by industry leaders at our recent New York Summit offer a compelling glimpse into what 2025 might hold for tokenization and digital assets.

On Regulation

“Common sense crypto regulation will become a bipartisan priority in 2025 regardless of who wins the presidency, with Senators Chuck Schumer and Tim Scott leading the charge within their respective caucuses. Regulatory clarity will pave the way for expanded adoption of stablecoins and tokenized funds, which will broaden institutional crypto participation. Tokenization of natural resource derivative assets in states like Wyoming and countries like the UAE will emerge as a killer use case for blockchain.”

— Anthony Scaramucci, Skybridge Capital

“The future passage of comprehensive crypto legislation by Congress will mark a crucial step forward for the industry. Though the specifics will require careful examination, BA welcomes the clarity that will come from a unified regulatory framework. We look forward to the benefits this will bring, with 2025 poised to be a transformative year.”

— Kristin Smith, Blockchain Association

On RWAs

“RWAs as an asset class onchain are getting big enough that we're seeing early development of liquid markets. Lending, derivatives and secondary trading are all use cases that we will see being adapted and for tokenized assets.”

— Lucas Vogelsang, Centrifuge

“We will see more financial institutions across the world reveal their game plan on real-world assets in 2025. In particular, financial institutions based in emerging markets across Asia and Latin America are poised to ride on regulatory tailwinds and introduce real-world asset use cases that surprise and impress us. As an ecosystem, we will finally start to have credible, reliable responses to the benefits of asset tokenization, and this will mark a seismic moment in history for real-world assets.”

— Qin En Looi, Saison Capital

On Market Trends

“In 2025, tokenized collectibles will be the fastest growing sub-segment of the RWA market in terms of year-over-year % growth and the tokenized treasury market will get meaningfully bigger.”

— Ben Forman, ParaFi

“We will see an uptake of tokenized Money Market Funds as collateral on a traditional finance business, like an exchange or a card network. Stablecoin total supply will grow to $180b by EOY and another 40% Y/Y by the end of 2025, reaching $250b. Stablecoin payments for cross-border use cases will be rightfully acknowledged as the first mainstream "use case" of blockchains at scale, beyond non-sovereign money (BTC). Stablecoins will handle $500bn+ of annual B2B payments that otherwise would have been processed over SWIFT. Positive regulatory developments will pave the way for easier issuance of tokenized securities onchain.”

— Will Nuelle, Galaxy Ventures

“Tokenized money market funds and stablecoin market caps will continue to grow, while new and varied off-chain capital and investors will be drawn on-chain. Retail toward culturally relevant assets (like sports, film, and collectibles) and institutions toward vertically integrated asset-backed finance opportunities. B2B and B2B2C distribution channels will help continue driving demand-side adoption of tokenized assets.”

— Morgan Krupetsky, Ava Labs

And let’s wait to see if Satoshi makes Real-World Asset Summit speaker alum Scottie Pippen a visit in the new year…

Looking Forward

At Centrifuge, we’re gearing up for yet another ambitious year. In 2025, we’re taking the Real-World Asset Summit to new cities and exploring new formats. Miami, Denver, Cannes, and New York are all on the map.

Mark your calendars. More details coming soon. Follow us on X for the latest updates. Partnership and speaker applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.