Securitize, a tokenization platform, has integrated cross-chain communication protocol Wormhole in an effort to “bring cross-chain capabilities to all assets tokenized through the Securitize platform,” Securitize said in a Sept. 20 announcement.
Real-world assets (RWAs) — including tokenized claims on financial assets, commodities, or art — are emerging as one of cryptocurrency’s most popular market segments but constraints on transferability among blockchain networks and wallets hinder adoption.
“Tokenized securities need to thrive on public, permissionless blockchains to unlock the potential of blockchain technology,” Carlos Domingo, Securitize’s CEO, said in a statement.
Securitize said the integration aims to “enable sub-second, sub-penny transactions” and foster a RWA cross-chain ecosystem.
RWAs are a roughly $12 billion market. Source: RWA.xyz
Related: WisdomTree aims to bring self-custody to regulated RWAs
On Sept. 18, WisdomTree launched an RWA platform designed to eventually let users access the asset manager’s RWA tokens from any type of wallet or blockchain network. Franklin Templeton has similar plans, the asset manager told Cointelegraph in July.
Securitize sells RWA tokenization as a service to institutional investment managers including BlackRock, Hamilton Lane InvestCorp, and KKR. It has onboarded approximately $1 billion into RWAs and is registered with United States regulators as a broker-dealer, transfer agent, and alternative trading system (ATS), according to Securitize’s website.
Tokenized RWAs already command upward of $12 billion in total value locked (TVL), according to RWA.xyz. They represent a $30-trillion market opportunity globally, Colin Butler, Polygon’s global head of institutional capital, told Cointelegraph in August.
The largest tokenized investment funds by assets under management (AUM) are BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) and Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX), with AUM of approximately $520 million and $430 million, respectively.
Securitize helps institutions launch tokenized funds. Source: Securitize
Wormhole is a blockchain protocol specializing in sending and verifying messages — including data on token transfers — among various blockchains. It connects nearly 30 networks and layer 2 scaling chains including Ethereum (ETH), Avalanche and Solana (SOL).
Ethereum dominates RWAs in terms of total value locked (TVL), with approximately $9 billion as of Sept. 20, according to RWA.xyz. Issuers are expanding to other chains, with Franklin Templeton tipping plans to launch tokenized funds on Solana on Sept. 20.
Smoother cross-chain integration “has set the stage for increased institutional adoption of tokenized assets,” Robinson Burkey, Wormhole Foundation’s CCO, said in a statement.
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