Citi Institute's June 1 "Tokenization 2030" report projects the global tokenized securities market will expand from approximately $17 billion today to $5.5 trillion by 2030 in its base case, with scenarios ranging from $2.7 trillion (bear) to $8.2 trillion (bull). The forecast arrives as DTCC, wh...
"We believe tokenization will significantly change how markets work and operate, bringing new levels of liquidity, transparency and efficiency to investors." — Frank La Salla, President and CEO, DTCC
Citi Institute's June 1 "Tokenization 2030" report projects the global tokenized securities market will expand from approximately $17 billion today to $5.5 trillion by 2030 in its base case, with scenarios ranging from $2.7 trillion (bear) to $8.2 trillion (bull). The forecast arrives as DTCC, which custodies $114 trillion in assets through its DTC subsidiary, prepares to begin limited production trades of tokenized securities in July 2026 and a full platform launch in October.
The report's central thesis: tokenized U.S. equities and Treasuries, not crypto-native assets, will constitute the bulk of on-chain value by decade's end. Citi projects $2.6 trillion in tokenized U.S. equities alone, assuming 10% of retail investors migrate to on-chain access by 2030. Tokenized Treasury bills would account for an additional $800 billion, representing 10% of the $8 trillion addressable market. Total stablecoin supply, which Citi treats as the digital settlement layer for tokenized assets, is projected to reach $1.9 trillion — roughly six times its current $320 billion market capitalization.
The Citi GPS report titled "Tokenization 2030 — Wall Street On-Chain" constructs its forecast from bottom-up adoption curves across six asset classes. The base case assumes:
The bear case ($2.7 trillion) assumes slower regulatory progress and institutional hesitancy. The bull case ($8.2 trillion) assumes faster retail adoption and broader international participation. Citi identifies three preconditions for the base case to materialize: completion of U.S. stablecoin legislation, operational readiness of market infrastructure providers, and interoperability standards between tokenized and legacy settlement systems.
The report designates "structural orchestrators" — entities that control issuance, distribution, and settlement in vertically integrated models — as the primary revenue beneficiaries. This framing suggests that Wall Street incumbents, not crypto-native platforms, capture the majority of economic value from the transition.
On-chain tokenized assets currently total approximately $17 billion, having tripled since early 2025. Tokenized U.S. Treasuries alone account for roughly $7.5 billion of that figure, according to RWA.xyz data through May 2026 — a 600% increase over 18 months. Broader real-world asset tokenization crossed $20 billion in May 2026 when including private credit, commodities, and other instrument types.
The product landscape is concentrated. As of January 2026, five funds controlled the majority of tokenized Treasury value:
| Product | Issuer | Market Cap | APY | |---------|--------|-----------|-----| | USYC | Circle International | $1.69B | 3.01% | | BUIDL | BlackRock (via Securitize) | $1.68B | 3.45% | | USDY | Ondo Finance | $1.20B | 3.63% | | BENJI | Franklin Templeton | $892M | 3.54% | | OUSG | Ondo Finance | $733M | 3.44% |
BlackRock's BUIDL crossed $1 billion in assets under management within seven months of its March 2024 launch on Ethereum and later expanded to additional chains. Its $5 million minimum investment restricts it to institutional participants. According to Arkham Intelligence, Ethena holds 57% of BUIDL's supply ($605 million), using it as backing for its USDtb stablecoin — illustrating how tokenized Treasuries have become embedded in DeFi's collateral infrastructure.
By contrast, Ondo's USDY serves a broader audience with over 17,000 holders and routine daily mint/redemption volumes exceeding $20 million. Ondo's OUSG crossed $500 million in AUM in early 2026.
The holder count across tokenized products reached 710,792 as of April 2026, up 5.56% in thirty days. Given minimum investment thresholds on many products, this figure skews institutional rather than retail.
The most consequential near-term development is DTCC's planned tokenization service. In December 2025, DTCC received a SEC no-action letter authorizing a three-year pilot for tokenized securities through its DTC subsidiary. The service will launch in two phases:
DTCC has convened an industry working group of more than 50 firms to develop the service, including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citi, Charles Schwab, Morgan Stanley, Anchorage, Circle, Nasdaq, Ondo Finance, and Ripple Prime. The system uses an indirect holding model: underlying assets remain in existing custody positions; only their digital representation changes through an alternative recording method.
This architecture is significant. Unlike crypto-native tokenization, which moves assets to new custodial structures, DTCC's approach layers tokenization onto existing post-trade infrastructure. The legal protections, SIPC coverage, and regulatory oversight of conventional securities remain intact.
NYSE, through parent Intercontinental Exchange, has disclosed plans for tokenized trading support targeting an "everything exchange" model spanning equities, bonds, and digital assets. Nasdaq has advanced proposals to trade tokenized securities and expanded trading hours. Both exchanges' plans align with the Citi report's prediction that market infrastructure providers will transition beyond pilot programs.
Citi's report identifies public market securities as the first-mover asset class, departing from earlier industry narratives that positioned illiquid assets (real estate, private equity) as tokenization's primary use case.
Treasuries and fixed income currently dominate. U.S. Treasury bills, bonds, and money market funds constitute over 55% of the current $17 billion tokenized market. Gold and commodities represent 34%. This composition reflects demand for dollar-denominated yield accessible 24/7 — a product category that did not exist on public blockchains before 2023.
Equities represent the largest growth opportunity in the Citi forecast at $2.6 trillion. The thesis assumes modern investors expect 24/7 access to equities, bonds, and commodities, and that tokenization enables fractional ownership and instant settlement. DTCC's pilot, which covers Russell 1000 stocks, provides the first regulated pathway for tokenized equity trading in the U.S.
Private credit remains a smaller but active segment. According to Yellow Research, the global private credit market totals approximately $1.7 trillion in AUM. Centrifuge Protocol has processed over $650 million in on-chain financing since launch. However, liquidity constraints and accredited-investor requirements limit near-term growth.
Citi frames stablecoins not as standalone products but as the settlement infrastructure for tokenized assets — a position consistent with the economic-value framework that distinguishes infrastructure revenue from speculative token appreciation.
The stablecoin market currently stands at approximately $320 billion, with Tether's USDT commanding 57.96% market share ($185.5 billion) and Circle's USDC holding second position at roughly $78 billion. Together, these two issuers control 93% of the market.
Citi projects stablecoin supply will reach $1.9 trillion by 2030, driven by their role in Delivery-versus-Payment (DvP) settlement for tokenized securities. The report stipulates that regulated stablecoins and tokenized deposits are "essential" for this settlement function — positioning regulatory clarity as a gating factor.
The connection between stablecoins and Treasuries is already measurable. Stablecoin reserves collectively hold tens of billions in U.S. Treasury bills. Tether disclosed diversification into gold reserves in addition to Treasuries. Circle's reserves consist primarily of cash and short-term U.S. Treasuries. If stablecoins reach $1.9 trillion, Citi estimates they will generate demand for up to $1 trillion in on-chain U.S. Treasury bills by 2030.
The Citi forecast carries material assumptions that may not hold.
Regulatory uncertainty: U.S. stablecoin legislation remains incomplete. The GENIUS Act passed the Senate but awaits House reconciliation. Without a clear legal framework for stablecoin reserves, bank issuance, and consumer protections, institutional adoption may stall below Citi's projections.
Interoperability: The report acknowledges that tokenized and legacy systems will operate in parallel during a transitional period. Hybrid models require interoperability standards that do not yet exist at scale. Cross-chain bridge security remains a concern — PeckShield reported $340.7 million drained from bridge protocols through 14 exploits in 2026 through June 1.
Concentration risk: Five products control the majority of tokenized Treasury value. BUIDL's 57% concentration in a single holder (Ethena) creates systemic exposure. A loss of confidence in any of the top three issuers could trigger rapid outflows from the entire category.
Adoption curve: Citi's equity forecast assumes 10% of U.S. retail investors will use on-chain solutions by 2030. Current on-chain holder counts suggest institutional participation is growing, but retail migration at this scale would require wallet infrastructure, regulatory protections, and user experiences that do not yet exist.
The Citi "Tokenization 2030" report represents the most granular institutional forecast of on-chain securities adoption to date. Its asset-class-level projections — $2.6 trillion in equities, $800 billion in Treasuries, $600 billion in money market funds — provide measurable benchmarks against which actual adoption can be tracked.
The report's timing is not incidental. DTCC's July pilot, NYSE and Nasdaq platform development, and an industry working group of 50+ firms signal that infrastructure buildout has moved from concept to execution. The question is no longer whether traditional securities will exist on-chain, but at what scale and under whose control.
The economic value distribution will likely favor incumbents. DTCC's indirect holding model preserves existing custody arrangements. The "structural orchestrator" designation in Citi's report maps directly to entities that already control issuance, distribution, and settlement in traditional markets. Crypto-native protocols — Ondo, Centrifuge, Securitize — occupy specialized niches but face structural disadvantages in competing with institutions that custody $114 trillion in assets and process trillions in daily trades.
Whether the market reaches $2.7 trillion or $8.2 trillion by 2030, the direction is established. The data shows tokenized Treasuries tripling year-over-year, institutional working groups expanding, and regulatory infrastructure advancing. The transition from pilot to production is underway.