Tokenization Expands the Definition of Money: Kraken Exec

Blockchain tokenization is transforming money beyond fiat currencies such as the US dollar by allowing users to save and instantly move virtually any asset across platforms, says a Kraken executive.

“I think we’re past the point where money only means fiat or your local currency,” Kraken Head of Consumer Mark Greenberg told CNBC on Wednesday, adding that “anything can be money” with tokenization.

“You can save in Tesla xStock, you can save in Bitcoin, or — as a Canadian — you can save in US dollars, euros, euro-denominated stablecoins, or even gold.”

Kraken’s xStocks is one of several tokenized stock offerings to hit the market this year as crypto exchanges look to expand beyond offering crypto trading. Coinbase and Gemini have also begun to offer tokenized stocks and have pushed betting via prediction markets as another offering to hook users.

Greenberg said tokenized stocks on Kraken, which aren’t available in the US, have attracted more than 80,000 wallets and saw roughly $14 billion in trading volume since it launched the offering in the second quarter of this year.

Data from RWA.xyz shows nearly $415 billion worth of real-world assets are currently tokenized on-chain. Boston Consulting Group estimated that figure could increase to $16 trillion by 2030, while McKinsey & Co predicted a more conservative $2 trillion over the same timeframe.

Tokenization is faster, more flexible than TradFi

Greenberg said tokenization also enables users to move assets between trading platforms more easily than ever.

“If you’re trading equities here in Canada […] moving assets from one broker to another can sometimes take weeks or even months. With crypto assets, if I want to move funds from Coinbase to Kraken or vice versa, that can happen in seconds,” he said.

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Blockchain tokenization also enables instant settlement for equity transactions, addressing limitations of traditional securities infrastructure that has remained largely unchanged for more than 50 years, Greenberg said.

Crypto doubles down on tokenization

Robinhood is also among the financial platforms that are pursuing a tokenization offering.