Polygon Executive Highlights $30 Trillion Opportunity in Tokenized Assets

In a recent interview with Cointelegraph, Colin Butler, Polygon’s global head of institutional capital, highlighted the vast potential of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), estimating the global market opportunity at $30 trillion.

Butler emphasized that the drive towards adoption will come from high-net-worth individuals who are likely to increase their investments in alternative assets, such as private credit, as tokenization enhances liquidity and accessibility for previously illiquid assets.

He explained that while there is an estimated $300 trillion in global assets, about $100 trillion of that is held by individuals with net worths between $1 million and $30 million. These individuals typically have minimal allocations to alternative assets, but this is expected to change. “In the near future, financial advisors may recommend a shift towards more substantial allocations, possibly around 20%, leading to a global market opportunity of $30 trillion,” Butler noted.

Currently, about $9 billion has been invested in tokenized private credit, with this number anticipated to rise sharply as major private equity funds enter the sector. Butler cited examples like KKR and Hamilton Lane, which have already engaged in tokenization on Polygon, and expects continued growth in this area.

Butler also mentioned that digital leaders in finance are increasingly considering significant investments in tokenized assets. “For instance, a private equity firm managing $500 billion in assets could project raising an additional $50 billion from this vertical,” he said.

At present, around $11.6 billion in tokenized RWAs are held on blockchain networks, excluding stablecoins. The most notable tokenized RWAs are money market funds such as BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) and Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX), which manage approximately $520 million and $420 million, respectively.

Polygon Technology, known for its blockchain scaling solutions, operates an Ethereum scaling chain with a total value locked (TVL) of about $850 million, according to DefiLlama.