author & date of publication: Tomas | 23.7.2025
The tokenization of traditional financial assets has moved beyond the conceptual phase to become an active, accelerating trend that is reshaping the foundations of capital markets. The entry of financial titans like BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and JPMorgan Chase into this space is not merely an experiment but a strategic confirmation of this transformation’s inevitability. The market for tokenized RWAs has reached a valuation of nearly $276B, although it’s important to note that this figure is dominated by stablecoins, which account for $251B. This growth, particularly in the non-stablecoin segment, represents a fundamental shift in the entire asset lifecycle, from issuance and management to trading.
While the direction is clear, the true scope and impact of this transformation remain unexplored. This article aims to quantify this shift through a key hypothesis: What would happen if a portion – specifically 5% – of primary financial assets moved on-chain? What change in Total Value Locked (TVL) would this represent, and is the current digital infrastructure prepared for such an influx of transactions? The answer is crucial for any institution seeking to navigate this new environment and establish a strategic position within it.
To ensure a robust and data-driven analysis, we collected a comprehensive dataset from a range of reputable financial and regulatory sources. The data was systematically divided into five key categories: Stablecoins and Payments, Stocks, Bonds, Private Credit, and Commodities.
To establish traditional finance (TradFi) benchmarks, we drew from the following sources:
All data regarding the current state of already tokenized RWA were obtained from the RWA.xyz analytics platform and are valid until July 10, 2025. Our analytical method proceeded in two steps. First, we compared the current value of tokenized assets with their respective benchmarks in traditional finance to determine the current penetration rate. Subsequently, we created a simulation model in which we applied a hypothetical 5% tokenization scenario to each asset class. Based on this model, we calculated the potential increase in TVL and Transactions Per Second (TPS). This approach allows us to quantify not only the current state but also the future requirements for blockchain infrastructure under a more massive involvement of traditional finance.
An analysis of the current state of tokenization reveals an uneven yet logical development. It is not a story of explosive growth across all sectors, but rather of targeted adoption in areas where blockchain solves real, pressing problems. The data shows us where the real battle for the future of finance is being fought today.
Let’s start where success is most visible. Payments and Private Credit are two segments that are clearly leading. The fact that the daily transaction volume of stablecoins already reaches 3.31% of the combined volume of giants Visa and Mastercard is astonishing. This is not a negligible figure; it is proof that stablecoins are not just a speculative tool but a functional, efficient, and increasingly utilized payment infrastructure. Their total market capitalization, which constitutes 1.11% of the M2 money supply, shows they have become a legitimate on-chain representation of money, serving as the lifeblood of the entire digital ecosystem.
Even more impressive, however, is the state of Private Credit. With a 1.58% penetration of total assets under management (AUM), this sector is the uncrowned king of real-world asset tokenization. Why? Because here, technology is not optimizing an already functioning system but solving its fundamental flaw – chronic illiquidity. For investors previously trapped in multi-year investment cycles, tokenization brings the promise of a secondary market and flexibility. This is real, tangible added value that justifies adoption.
Closely behind, albeit with significantly lower penetration, are Bonds and Commodities. Tokenized U.S. Treasuries, with a 0.03% share of the total market, may seem like a drop in the ocean. However, this figure should be viewed as a strategic „beachhead“ established by institutional players on-chain. Their primary goal is not volume but the construction of foundational building blocks for a future financial system – safe, yielding, and programmable collateral. Similarly, Commodities, with 0.34% penetration, show a solid and logical start. The tokenization of gold and other precious metals solves physical custody issues and allows for easy, fractional ownership, a clear benefit for investors.
And then there are Stocks. With a penetration of just 0.001% of market capitalization and 0.005% of daily trading volume on Nasdaq, it is clear at first glance that stock tokenization is lagging. Traditional stock markets are already extremely efficient and liquid, so tokenization does not address as pressing a problem here as it does for private credit. However, it would be a mistake to interpret these numbers as a failure. They are, rather, the calm before the storm. In recent months, things have been moving at a dizzying pace. Announcements from retail-focused giants such as Kraken (with its launch of tokenized stocks on Solana), Coinbase, and especially Robinhood, signal that a new wave of adoption is coming. These players have tens of millions of users, and their entry into the arena could dramatically change the current negligible figures and bring tokenized stocks to the masses.
So what would happen if 5% of each of these markets moved on-chain? The numbers are astronomical. We are talking about $1.675 trillion in stocks, $1.435 trillion in U.S. Treasury bonds, $1.097 trillion in Stablecoins, and hundreds of billions more in other assets. In total, TVL would increase by $4.886 trillion. This massive influx of capital would completely transform the on-chain world and create an unprecedented demand for secure and reliable infrastructure.
Our model shows dramatic differences in the required transactional capacity. For bonds and private credit, the TPS requirements are negligible (0.17 – 0.58 TPS). Here, the game is not about speed but about bulletproof security for high-value transactions. For stocks, the requirement of 28.6 TPS is still relatively low and manageable for most modern blockchains. The real test is payments. Processing 5% of Visa and Mastercard’s volume would require a capacity of 370.4 TPS. This is a figure that puts current L1 networks like Ethereum under enormous pressure and clearly shows that the future of mass adoption lies in L2 solutions (Base, Arbitrum, etc.) and high-performance L1 networks like Solana, Aptos, or Sui.
The key question, then, is: can the current infrastructure handle this load? Data from leading blockchains reveals a surprising and often misunderstood fact.
The combined theoretical throughput of the ten largest networks is almost 400,000 transactions per second. While we can debate whether these marketing-touted theoretical maximums are achievable under real-world conditions, a look at actual utilization is far more telling. The current real utilization against the theoretical maximum of these blockchains is a mere 0.47%. Even in our ambitious 5% tokenization scenario, which would add 403 TPS, the total utilization of these networks would only increase to a negligible 0.58%.
The conclusion from our data is inevitable: in terms of raw transactional capacity, leading blockchains are not only ready for the influx of traditional finance but are desperately underutilized. This finding, however, reveals a deeper, more critical truth: the primary bottleneck for institutional adoption is not the new technology, but the old one. The core of the issue lies in the institutional readiness – or lack thereof – of the very financial giants expected to lead this transition, who face immense technological debt and regulatory hurdles. Banks, asset managers, and custodians operate on complex webs of legacy systems, some built on decades-old programming languages and monolithic architectures. These systems are not only expensive to maintain but are fundamentally incompatible with the decentralized, real-time nature of blockchain.
Integrating a transparent, 24/7 settlement layer into an infrastructure built around batch processing and T+1 settlement cycles is not a simple upgrade; it is a complete paradigm shift that requires a massive overhaul of technology, operations, and even culture. This transition involves navigating immense technical debt, bridging data silos, and retraining entire workforces, all while managing the immense costs and risks of such a transformation.
For mass (retail) adoption, the hurdle is different but equally significant: the notoriously complex Web3 user experience (UX), which must be simplified before widespread participation can be expected. Therefore, while the blockchain „rails“ may be ready for the train, the institutional „stations“ – the existing financial institutions – are still in the process of a slow and arduous reconstruction. This internal transformation, far more than the capacity of the blockchain itself, will ultimately dictate the pace of the tokenization revolution.