Coinbase: Open Tokenization Can Close the Capital-Access Wealth Gap

Coinbase Research argues that direct access to capital markets — not income or basic banking — is now the primary driver of wealth. The report estimates about 4 billion people are excluded from owning productive assets or accessing large-scale financing under intermediary-based systems, creating a persistent capital gap. In the U.S. over the past 40 years capital income rose ~136% while labor income rose ~57%, underscoring the growing importance of capital returns for wealth accumulation. Coinbase advocates open, permissionless tokenization (vs. permissioned consortia or closed chains) to expand direct investing and fundraising without reproducing traditional gatekeepers. The report highlights real-world tokenization use cases — Franklin Templeton’s tokenized money-market fund on a public chain, JPMorgan’s Kinexys tokenized collateral network, and the NYSE’s plan for 24/7 tokenized stocks/ETF trading with stablecoin settlement — and warns that permissioned or closed architectures risk recreating exclusion. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong will discuss market-structure legislation and tokenization at Davos. For traders, key implications include accelerating institutional and retail issuance of on-chain assets, potential liquidity gains, faster settlement, and evolving regulatory and infrastructure debates that could affect adoption and market access. Primary keywords: open tokenization, tokenization, Coinbase, wealth gap; secondary: capital markets, permissionless blockchain, brokered vs unbrokered, access to capital, CLARITY Act.