Citi Forecasts Tokenized Securities Market to Hit $5.5T by 2030

Wall Street giant Citi expects the market for tokenized securities to reach $5.5 trillion by 2030, driven largely by the rapid expansion of stablecoins and institutional adoption. This projection represents a massive leap from current levels, highlighting how traditional finance is steadily migrating onto blockchain infrastructure.

According to Citi's latest research, stablecoins alone are poised to generate up to $1 trillion in demand for onchain U.S. Treasury bills. Another $2.6 trillion is expected to flow into tokenized stocks. This shift is not just about efficiency; it is about liquidity. By moving real-world assets (RWAs) onto public and private ledgers, financial institutions can eliminate settlement delays and lower operational costs.

Skeptics point out that regulatory hurdles still block the path to mass adoption. The legal framework for cross-border tokenized securities remains a fragmented patchwork, with jurisdictions like the EU moving faster under MiCA than their U.S. counterparts. Despite these frictions, the momentum behind tokenization is hard to ignore. BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have already proven that institutional appetite for onchain yield is real, pulling hundreds of millions of dollars into their respective tokenized treasury funds.

The plumbing of this new financial system relies heavily on robust smart contracts and secure custody solutions. If stablecoin issuers continue to back their circulating supply with short-term government debt, they effectively become some of the largest buyers of U.S. Treasuries globally. This creates a powerful feedback loop. Traditional liquidity feeds the crypto ecosystem, while crypto demand supports sovereign debt markets.

Traders should watch the upcoming regulatory decisions in the U.S. and Europe regarding stablecoin reserve requirements. Any strict mandate on where these reserves must be held could accelerate or stall Citi's $5.5 trillion timeline. The immediate catalyst to monitor is the growth rate of yield-bearing stablecoins, which could cannibalize traditional bank deposits faster than expected.