Tokenized Assets Could Reach $18.9 Trillion by 2033 as AI Agents Enter Capital Markets

John Hoffman, head of portfolio products at tokenization firm Ondo Finance and former executive at Invesco and Grayscale, argues that autonomous AI agents will become the primary demand driver for tokenized assets over the next decade.

In a CoinDesk interview, Hoffman projected that AI agents will participate actively in markets, buying, selling and allocating capital through tokenized investment products natively on blockchain rails.

The tokenized assets market reached $33 billion as of late 2024, nearly triple the prior-year level, according to RWA.xyz. Two major forecasts bracket the sector's scale: Citi estimates $5.5 trillion by 2030, while Boston Consulting Group and Ripple project $18.9 trillion by 2033.

Hoffman drew a historical parallel to ETF adoption. When he entered the ETF industry in the early 2000s, the asset class held roughly $200 billion in assets. Global ETF assets now exceed $20 trillion, according to PwC. "Every market that digitizes gets larger," Hoffman said, positioning tokenization as the digitization layer for capital markets and the infrastructure foundation for AI-driven financial services.

The vision requires specific building blocks: widespread tokenized assets, onchain prime-brokerage capabilities and asset-management strategies executable natively on blockchain networks.

Ondo Finance currently offers tokenized U.S. Treasury products and is expanding into stocks, ETFs and perpetual futures. The firm added 173 tokenized stocks and ETFs to its catalog, bringing total offerings to over 430 assets across three chains, following its March tokenization of five Franklin Templeton ETFs.

Ondo's broker-dealer subsidiary, Oasis Pro Markets, received expanded FINRA authorization to offer tokenized equities, ETFs, mutual funds, index funds and IPO securities to U.S. retail and institutional investors. Settlement is available in fiat and stablecoins. This follows Ondo's October 2024 acquisition of Oasis Pro and its earlier launches of tokenized BlackRock iShares Core S&P 500 ETF and Micron shares.

Ondo views the CLARITY Act, which would define digital asset regulatory jurisdiction, as critical for scaling tokenized product distribution in the United States.

The vision requires specific building blocks: widespread tokenized assets, onchain prime-brokerage capabilities and asset-management strategies executable natively on blockchain networks.

Ondo views the CLARITY Act, which would define digital asset regulatory jurisdiction, as critical for scaling tokenized product distribution in the United States.