CMC News

Tokenization Will Disrupt Finance Faster Than Media Shift, Says MoonPay Exec

Real-world asset #tokenization will transform financial markets more rapidly than digital technology disrupted legacy media formats, according to Keith Grossman, president of crypto payments firm MoonPay. The shift to on-chain representation of traditional assets is forcing institutional adaptation across the banking sector.

Major financial institutions, including BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Citi, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, are piloting tokenized products. BlackRock offers tokenized funds while Franklin Templeton runs tokenized money market funds on public blockchains. Global banks are testing #on-chain settlement, tokenized deposits and real-time asset movement systems.

The #RWA sector, excluding stablecoins, has reached nearly $19 billion in market capitalization. Grossman compared the current transition to how digitization forced media companies to evolve in the late 1990s and early 2000s rather than destroying them outright. Financial incumbents will survive in different forms, adapting to blockchain-powered infrastructure rather than resisting change.

Winners in the shift toward tokenized finance will be companies that embrace transformation ahead of market forces. Grossman stated that firms attempting to stop the inevitable transition to global financial systems running on #blockchain rails will fall behind competitors willing to innovate. The comparison to media industry disruption suggests the speed and scope of change could exceed initial expectations.

Tokenizing #real-world assets enables 24/7 market access, expands asset classes to a global scale, reduces transaction costs through disintermediation, and cuts settlement times from days to minutes. The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a joint statement in September on creating regulatory frameworks for round-the-clock capital markets.