Global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company has provided insights into the current state of financial asset tokenization in a research report released on June 20.

The report points out that although tokenization technology has developed to a critical tipping point, showing technological maturity and measurable economic benefits, its widespread application in the mainstream market still faces many challenges.

McKinsey stressed that the trend of asset digitization is becoming increasingly obvious, and as the technology matures and the economic benefits become apparent, this process seems irreversible. However, even with this positive momentum, the widespread application of tokenization technology still faces obstacles that hinder its pace of becoming mainstream in the market.

The report mentioned that tokenization has transitioned from the initial pilot project stage to large-scale deployment, and the monthly transaction volume of some large-scale applications has reached trillions of dollars.

Despite these advances, McKinsey noted that mainstream adoption of tokenization technology remains elusive due to so-called “cold start” issues and other regulatory, technical, and operational barriers. These include issues such as liquidity and volume constraints that limit and prevent the creation of a robust and active market.

The “Cold Start” Problem: Liquidity and Volume Limitations

In its report, McKinsey specifically highlighted the "cold start" problem in the tokenization process, which is a major challenge related to limited liquidity and trading volume, both of which are essential to building a healthy and robust market. Without the active participation of issuers and investors, the advantages promised by tokenization technology, such as increased asset liquidity, faster transaction settlement, and greater market transparency, will be difficult to achieve.

At the same time, the report also mentioned that the cold start problem is essentially a "chicken or egg" dilemma. Due to the insufficient number of tokenized assets in the market, potential investors may be hesitant due to concerns about insufficient liquidity and market depth.

To overcome this challenge, McKinsey believes that there needs to be use cases that can bring clear and demonstrable benefits, such as reduced transaction costs, improved market efficiency, and expanded market access, which can demonstrate the actual value of tokenization technology.

The report also cited the example of tokenized money market funds that have attracted more than $1 billion in assets under management, indicating that in some areas, tokenization technology has begun to demonstrate its potential.

Growth prospects and adoption of tokenized assets

At the same time, McKinsey made optimistic predictions about the future growth of tokenized assets in its report. The report predicts that by 2030, the total market value of tokenized assets is expected to reach 2 trillion US dollars, and if the market develops more optimistically, this figure may even double to 4 trillion US dollars. This forecast reflects the role of asset classes such as mutual funds, bonds, exchange-traded notes (ETNs), loans and securitization in promoting the tokenization trend.

The report also pointed out that the application of blockchain technology will be carried out in stages, and will initially focus on asset classes that can provide reliable investment returns and scalability. Because the introduction of blockchain technology will be a gradual process, the market will give priority to those areas that can quickly achieve efficiency and value gains.

The McKinsey report also mentioned some early success stories, such as tokenized money market funds that have attracted more than $1 billion in assets under management. In addition, in the lending field, blockchain-based platforms such as Figure Technologies have facilitated billions of dollars in loan originations, demonstrating the potential of blockchain technology to improve efficiency and transparency.

McKinsey finally emphasized that the development of tokenization requires close collaboration between financial institutions and market infrastructure participants. These collaborations are essential to building a minimum viable value chain. At the same time, financial institutions need to evaluate their product suites and combine the strategic priorities derived from these assessments with market opportunities to determine which asset classes can benefit most from tokenization. #麦肯锡 #资产代币化 #加密资产 #金融投资

Conclusion

McKinsey's research report reveals that although financial asset tokenization technology has made significant progress, it still needs to overcome a series of challenges including the "cold start" problem to achieve widespread application in the mainstream market. However, despite the obstacles, the report is optimistic about the growth of the market value of tokenized assets in the 2030s, predicting that it can reach $2 trillion or more. This growth prospect is due to the gradual maturity of blockchain technology and the gradual tokenization of asset classes, which heralds new changes in the financial market.

To seize the opportunities brought by tokenization technology, financial institutions and market participants need to strengthen cooperation and jointly build an ecosystem that supports the steady growth of tokenized assets. This requires them to deeply evaluate and identify assets with the greatest potential for tokenization, while ensuring that strategies are closely aligned with market opportunities. Through such coordinated efforts, tokenization technology will hopefully unleash its full potential in improving market efficiency and transparency, injecting new vitality into the future development of the financial services industry.