Tokenization Market Grows to $35 Billion…Who is Actually Buying the Funds? | Kim Dong-hwan, Jo Dong-hyun, CEO of Undefined Labs

Summary

The video analyzes the actual buyer demographics and market structure of the growing $35 billion RWA (Real World Asset) tokenization market. Contrary to expectations, Wall Street institutions and retail investors are not the primary buyers; instead, crypto-native entities and whales dominate primary market subscriptions. The lack of secondary market trading means RWA growth is unlikely to significantly boost base layer blockchains like Ethereum, though tokenized stocks are gaining traction.

• The RWA market has grown to $35 billion, but Wall Street capital has not entered as expected.
• 93% of RWA capital comes from crypto whales, DAOs, and crypto VCs, not retail investors.
• Retail interest is mostly limited to Southeast Asia, where traditional financial access is poor.
• 80% of RWA transactions are settled in USDC, as Wall Street issuers prefer it over USDT.
• Almost all RWA activity occurs in primary market subscriptions with virtually no secondary trading.
• The lack of secondary turnover means RWA growth may not drive up gas fees or prices for Ethereum and Solana.
• Tokenized semiconductor stocks like Samsung Electronics and Micron are seeing massive trading volumes, diverting capital from Bitcoin.