Tokenized ETFs Could Hit $250 Billion by 2030 as On-Chain Funds Sit at $700M

The U.S. exchange-traded fund market managed $10.4 trillion in assets as of March 2025, and Citi Research projects that figure could more than double to $25 trillion by 2030. The bank's conservative forecast places the market at $20 trillion within the same timeframe.

That growth implies a compound annual growth rate exceeding 19 percent over roughly five years. PwC's global outlook is more bullish, forecasting worldwide ETF assets to surpass $35 trillion by 2030, up from its $19.5 trillion estimate for 2025.

Against that backdrop, tokenized fund assets on-chain total less than $700 million—approximately 0.007 percent of the traditional ETF market's current size.

Active ETFs are among the key drivers behind the broader market's expansion. These funds give portfolio managers real-time allocation discretion and are expected to exceed $4 trillion in global AUM. Defined-outcome products are also gaining traction: buffer-strategy ETFs cap upside in exchange for downside protection, extending the utility of traditional ETF structures.

Ondo Finance is among the protocols pushing on-chain tokenization of equities and ETF shares, reporting around $700 million in TVL across its tokenized stock and ETF offerings.

Blockchain settlement offers concrete advantages over legacy rails. Transactions can achieve near-instant finality versus T+1 or T+2 cycles in conventional finance. Smart contracts automate dividend distributions, corporate actions and compliance checks. Fractional ownership is trivially easy to implement, and 24/7 trading requires no exchange infrastructure across multiple time zones.

BlackRock's BUIDL fund and Franklin Templeton's on-chain money market fund represent early institutional forays into the space, even if current volumes remain modest.

If tokenized ETFs capture just 1 percent of the projected $25 trillion market by 2030, the segment reaches $250 billion—making the current $700 million look like seed-stage capital.

Traditional ETFs took roughly 30 years to move from niche to dominant market structure. The first U.S.-listed ETF launched in 1993, with widespread retail adoption arriving in the mid-2010s.

European ETF assets reached $3.2 trillion by end of 2024, growing faster than the U.S. market, according to UBS Global, reflecting adoption headroom in regions where ownership rates remain below U.S. levels.

Against that backdrop, tokenized fund assets on-chain total less than $700 million—approximately 0.007 percent of the traditional ETF market's current size.

Ondo Finance is among the protocols pushing on-chain tokenization of equities and ETF shares, reporting around $700 million in TVL across its tokenized stock and ETF offerings.

BlackRock's BUIDL fund and Franklin Templeton's on-chain money market fund represent early institutional forays into the space, even if current volumes remain modest.

If tokenized ETFs capture just 1 percent of the projected $25 trillion market by 2030, the segment reaches $250 billion—making the current $700 million look like seed-stage capital.

Traditional ETFs took roughly 30 years to move from niche to dominant market structure. The first U.S.-listed ETF launched in 1993, with widespread retail adoption arriving in the mid-2010s.