Emerging Markets to Drive RWA Tokenization Growth in 2026, Bitfinex Exec Says
Jesse Knutson, head of operations at Bitfinex, predicts tokenized real-world assets (RWA) will expand significantly in 2026, led by adoption in emerging market economies. Knutson argues that developing markets—hindered by legacy financial infrastructure—will embrace onchain capital formation, stablecoin settlement and asset fractionalization faster than developed markets. He notes that fixed-income tokenization (US Treasuries, money market funds) is currently most popular in developed economies, while real estate and commodities lead in developing markets. Bitfinex projects the tokenized RWA market could reach several trillion dollars over the next decade, contingent on major issuers moving from pilots to commercial products. Key challenges remain: legal enforceability of onchain contracts, liquidity and settlement without slippage, investor protections, and interoperability across blockchains and token standards. Overcoming these issues is essential for RWAs to be widely used as collateral in DeFi and to achieve mass adoption.
Bullish
This news is bullish because it signals expanding adoption potential and a large addressable market for tokenized real-world assets (RWA). Key bullish factors: 1) Demand driver — emerging markets with fragmented legacy infrastructure are likely to adopt tokenization and stablecoin rails to attract capital and enable fractional investments, which should increase onchain activity and demand for related services and tokens. 2) Market size — Bitfinex projects RWA could grow to several trillion dollars over a decade if projects move from pilots to commercial scale, implying substantial long-term inflows into crypto rails and DeFi. 3) Use-case diversification — real estate and commodities tokenization in developing markets complements fixed-income tokenization in developed markets, broadening asset classes available onchain. Caveats tempering immediate impact: legal enforceability, liquidity, investor protection, and interoperability issues could delay adoption and create episodic volatility as regulatory or technical setbacks occur. Short-term market reaction may be muted or volatile — traders could see rallying interest in tokenization-focused projects, infrastructure tokens, and stablecoins on positive progress, with pullbacks on reports of legal/technical setbacks. Long-term, successful resolution of legal and interoperability issues would be materially positive, improving onchain collateral utility, boosting DeFi lending/usage and supporting sustained asset inflows. Overall, the announcement increases constructive sentiment around RWA and infrastructure builders, supporting a bullish medium-to-long-term thesis.