Tokenization: Where Solana's Tokenization Push Stands — and Where It's Going Next

A striking disparity has emerged in Solana's tokenization landscape: while the network boasts 20% of all on-chain real-world asset (RWA) holders globally, it captures just 3% of the capital. That gap represents both a challenge and a massive opportunity—one that Securitize is now actively working to close with the launch of Solana's first native RWA lending market.

Summary

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Graham Ferguson, Head of Ecosystem at Securitize, delivered a compelling presentation at Breakpoint 2025 that painted a picture of tokenization's explosive growth trajectory and Solana's unique position within it. Securitize, founded in 2017, has established itself as the dominant force in securities tokenization, managing $3.5 billion in assets and partnering with financial giants including BlackRock, Hamilton Lane, VanEck, Apollo, and KKR.

The broader tokenization market has reached $36 billion across all chains, with over half a million holders and 250 individual issuers participating. Industry projections suggest this could grow to $2 trillion by 2030—a potential 50x increase even by conservative estimates. This growth is being driven by four key advantages of tokenization: faster settlement times, broader global distribution, programmable compliance built directly into assets, and entirely new design possibilities for financial products.

Solana's challenge, Ferguson explained, is that it has excelled at attracting retail users but hasn't yet captured proportional institutional capital. The solution lies in building products that give institutional investors clear financial incentives to move on-chain—products that Securitize is now actively developing on Solana through strategic partnerships.

The announcement of the native RWA lending market represents a significant milestone in bridging this gap. By enabling investors to post Apollo's diversified credit fund (ACRED) as collateral to borrow stablecoins, the platform demonstrates that institutional-grade DeFi products can operate directly on Solana's infrastructure.

Key Points:

The Tokenization Advantage

Tokenization converts traditional financial assets into digital tokens on blockchain infrastructure, fundamentally changing how these assets function. Ferguson outlined four critical advantages that are driving institutional interest. First, settlement times collapse from days to near-instantaneous, dramatically improving capital efficiency. Second, blockchain infrastructure enables distribution to investors globally—something traditional finance has struggled to achieve.

The third advantage—programmable compliance—addresses one of the biggest concerns institutions have about crypto. With compliance rules embedded directly into tokenized assets, regulatory requirements are enforced automatically and in real-time, rather than relying on manual processes. Finally, tokenization opens an entirely new design space for financial products, allowing developers to merge the programmability of DeFi with traditional financial instruments. This last point particularly resonates with traditional finance professionals who see opportunities to create products impossible in legacy systems.

Securitize's Market Position and Track Record

Securitize has built an impressive portfolio of firsts in the tokenization space. The company operates the largest tokenized asset in BUIDL (BlackRock's USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund), the largest tokenized venture fund in BCAP, the largest tokenized private credit fund in ACRED (Apollo's diversified credit fund), and the largest tokenized stock. This track record has attracted partnerships with the world's largest asset managers.

The company's role extends beyond simple tokenization. Securitize functions as a registered broker-dealer and transfer agent, providing the regulated infrastructure necessary for securities to exist on-chain. This regulatory positioning is crucial—it allows institutions to tokenize assets while remaining fully compliant with securities laws, something that has historically been a major barrier to institutional blockchain adoption.

Solana's Retail vs. Institutional Paradox

Ferguson presented data that reveals an interesting asymmetry in Solana's RWA adoption. Approximately 20% of all on-chain RWA holders are on Solana—evidence that the network has successfully attracted retail investors to tokenized assets. However, only 3% of total on-chain RWA capital sits on Solana, suggesting institutions have been slower to adopt the network for these products.

This gap, Ferguson argued, represents Solana's greatest opportunity. Products like Backed's tokenized stocks and Galaxy's offerings have proven retail demand exists. Now the challenge is building institutional-grade infrastructure that gives large capital allocators compelling reasons to deploy on Solana rather than competing networks.

The LoopScale Partnership and Native RWA Lending

The headline announcement was the launch of a native RWA lending market on Solana, built through collaboration between Securitize, LoopScale, Apollo, Pyth Network, Paxos (via the USDG stablecoin), and the Solana Foundation. This product allows investors to post ACRED tokens—representing shares in Apollo's diversified credit fund—as collateral to borrow stablecoins.

Ferguson emphasized two critical aspects of this implementation. First, it's truly native: ACRED represents a direct share of the Apollo fund, not a wrapped token or derivative product. This eliminates intermediary counterparty risk—Apollo itself is the counterparty. Second, the integration required significant customization. LoopScale's founders worked extensively with Securitize to modify their protocol to meet the regulatory requirements of handling tokenized securities, demonstrating that DeFi protocols can adapt to institutional needs.

The Coordination Challenge in RWA DeFi

Building RWA-integrated DeFi products is fundamentally a coordination problem, Ferguson explained. A single lending product requires alignment between multiple parties: the lending protocol, the asset issuer, an oracle for price feeds, a curator to manage risk, a stablecoin for liquidity, the underlying blockchain, and KYC/AML service providers.

Each participant must be comfortable with their role and responsibilities. The asset issuer needs confidence that their securities are being handled appropriately. The stablecoin provider needs assurance about the collateral quality. The lending protocol needs to adapt to handle regulated securities differently from permissionless crypto assets. Successfully navigating this complexity is why products like the LoopScale integration represent such significant milestones.

Future Growth Projections

Industry analysts project the tokenization market could reach $2 trillion by 2030 at the conservative end. From the current $36 billion, this represents roughly 50x growth over five years. Ferguson noted that even these projections might underestimate the market's potential—Securitize sees daily interest from institutions exploring tokenization, and the pace of inquiry continues to accelerate.

This growth won't happen automatically. It requires continued development of products that offer genuine utility, infrastructure that meets institutional standards, and regulatory clarity that gives asset managers confidence to participate. Securitize is actively seeking partnerships with protocols, asset issuers, stablecoin providers, and investors to build out this ecosystem.

Facts + Figures

• Securitize has tokenized $3.5 billion in assets under management as of December 2025
• Total on-chain RWA market stands at $36 billion across all blockchains
• Over 500,000 holders participate in on-chain RWA products
• 250 individual issuers have tokenized assets on blockchain
• 20% of all on-chain RWA holders are on Solana
• Only 3% of on-chain RWA capital sits on Solana
• Conservative projections estimate $2 trillion in tokenized RWAs by 2030
• This represents approximately 50x growth from current levels
• Securitize was founded in 2017 by Carlos Domingo
• Securitize operates BUIDL (largest tokenized asset), BCAP (largest tokenized venture fund), ACRED (largest tokenized private credit fund), and the largest tokenized stock
• Partners include BlackRock, Hamilton Lane, VanEck, Apollo, and KKR
• The LoopScale partnership represents Solana's first native RWA lending market
• The integration uses Pyth Network for price feeds and USDG (Paxos) for stablecoin liquidity

Top quotes

• "Approximately 20% of all on-chain RWA holders are on Solana. The less good is that only 3% of all on-chain capital in RWA sits on Solana."

• "Solana has excelled at what it does best, which is attracting retail, building retail products... The opportunity is to bring institutions on-chain."

• "Investors need a financial incentive to do this, right? And in my work at Securitize, I have found over the last several months that this really does seem to be a coordination problem."

• "ACRED represents a share, directly, of the Apollo diversified credit fund. It's not a wrapped token. You're not dealing with some sort of counterparty risk with an entity that you may not know or be able to trust. Apollo is the counterparty."

• "Compliance is baked into the asset itself. So it happens in real-time. It's automatic. It's programmatic."

• "Two trillion, if I'm doing this correct, is around 50x, right? And that's conservative."

• "A lot of my friends work in traditional finance. This is something that is very interesting to them, taking the best of what we know and love in DeFi and merging it with traditional finance."

• "Now more than ever are we seeing asset managers, issuers interested in tokenizing all sorts of assets. It's just incumbent on us to figure out, all right, what is the best way to distribute these?"

Questions Answered

What is tokenization and why does it matter?

Tokenization is the process of converting traditional financial assets—like stocks, bonds, or fund shares—into digital tokens on a blockchain. This matters because it fundamentally improves how financial assets work. Settlement times drop from days to near-instant, reducing counterparty risk and improving capital efficiency. Assets can be distributed globally to anyone with internet access, dramatically expanding investor reach. Compliance rules are programmed directly into the tokens, ensuring regulatory requirements are met automatically. Perhaps most importantly, tokenization enables entirely new types of financial products that combine the programmability of DeFi with traditional finance structures.

Why is there such a gap between Solana's RWA holders and capital?

Solana has approximately 20% of all on-chain RWA holders but only 3% of the capital because the network has primarily attracted retail investors rather than institutions. Products like tokenized stocks from Backed and Galaxy have successfully brought retail users on-chain, but the larger capital pools controlled by institutions haven't yet moved to Solana at the same rate. This disparity exists because institutional-grade products—those with appropriate compliance frameworks, risk management, and the utility features institutions expect—are still being developed. The gap represents a significant opportunity as these products mature.

What makes the LoopScale/Apollo partnership significant?

This partnership marks the first native RWA lending market on Solana, allowing investors to post Apollo's diversified credit fund tokens as collateral to borrow stablecoins. The key word is "native"—ACRED represents direct shares in the Apollo fund, not wrapped tokens or derivatives. This eliminates intermediary counterparty risk that exists in many bridge-based solutions. The product also demonstrates successful coordination between multiple ecosystem participants: a lending protocol, a major asset manager, an oracle provider, a stablecoin issuer, and regulated KYC/AML infrastructure. This blueprint can be replicated for future institutional products.

What compliance features do tokenized securities have?

Tokenized securities have compliance rules embedded directly into the token smart contracts. This means KYC/AML requirements, accreditation checks, transfer restrictions, and other regulatory obligations are enforced automatically and in real-time. When someone attempts to transfer a tokenized security, the contract verifies the recipient meets all requirements before allowing the transaction. This programmable compliance is attractive to institutions because it reduces operational burden and ensures continuous regulatory adherence—a major improvement over traditional systems where compliance checks happen periodically rather than continuously.

How big could the tokenization market become?

Conservative industry projections estimate the tokenization market will reach $2 trillion by 2030, representing roughly 50x growth from the current $36 billion. However, even these projections may underestimate the market's potential. Securitize reports seeing tremendous daily interest from institutions exploring tokenization, and the pace of inquiry continues to accelerate as successful implementations demonstrate the technology's viability. The full market potential remains unclear, but the trajectory is clearly exponential.

What types of organizations should work with Securitize?

Securitize is actively seeking partnerships across the ecosystem. Protocols interested in integrating RWAs into their products or offering RWA-based features should reach out. Asset issuers looking to tokenize securities—including those with creative or novel structures—are encouraged to connect. Stablecoin projects exploring RWAs as backing assets represent another partnership opportunity. Finally, any investors interested in understanding how institutional-grade on-chain products work would benefit from learning about Securitize's offerings and infrastructure.