Citrini Research says tokenization fee earners may beat bitcoin and ether
In brief
- Citrini Research published Breaking the Wall, a 79-page tokenization report, on Thursday.
- Tokenization investors may find better opportunities than bitcoin and ether, the firm said.
- Citrini proposed two baskets: one of listed stocks, one of crypto tokens.
- Securitize, Circle, Aerodrome, Maple, Ondo Finance and Aave are among the picks.
- Bullish, one of the stock picks, is CoinDesk's parent company.
Where the report sees the money
Tokenization turns traditional assets into digital tokens that can move between financial platforms and potentially trade around the clock. Citrini's argument is that this flexibility opens new markets for trading platforms, lenders, stablecoin issuers and companies that handle securities ownership records.
It's a fee story. The report said the biggest winners may be the companies and crypto projects collecting fees from that activity, and it proposed two investment baskets: one of publicly traded stocks, the other of crypto tokens.
The stock basket
On the equity side, the report highlighted Securitize, which maintains the legal link between blockchain tokens and the securities they represent. It said Coinbase and Robinhood offer exposure through their trading platforms and blockchain infrastructure, while stablecoin issuer Circle could benefit from greater demand for USDC to settle transactions. Figure Technology Solutions (tokenized lending), SoFi (stablecoin payments) and Bullish, which is acquiring share registrar Equiniti, also made the list.
Bullish is CoinDesk's parent company.
Why Citrini leans toward tokens
Citrini said it was more excited about its crypto-token basket, which it said offers broader exposure than the limited universe of listed companies. That basket includes Aerodrome (AERO), a trading platform that could collect fees from tokenized stock transactions, and Maple (SYRUP), which manages blockchain-based lending products for institutional investors. Ondo Finance, Pendle, Aave, Uniswap, Ethena, ether.fi, Chainlink and LayerZero round it out.
“We can't assume that majors, primarily BTC and ETH, will make new ATHs on this,” the report said, referring to all-time highs.
The caveats
It's a conditional thesis. The report framed its case around an "if": should stocks, commodities and other financial assets keep moving onchain, the financial products built around them should eventually follow. Its language on the winners is hedged, too (the fee collectors "may" win, and Circle "could" benefit).
The report also cautioned that growing trading volumes and network activity don't always translate into higher token prices, according to CoinDesk. Investors need to look at how protocols make money, who collects the fees and whether token holders get a share, it said.
Citrini also flagged liquidity spread across competing blockchains, security risks that could slow adoption, and legal hurdles for synthetic tokenized stocks, which offer exposure to share prices without the voting rights or direct ownership that come with traditional shares.
These baskets are Citrini's analysis as reported by CoinDesk, not a LeoDex recommendation.
CoinDesk reported that Citrini runs the most-followed Substack newsletter, with more than 263,000 followers. CoinDesk also noted that the firm's AI research went viral earlier this year and was followed by a brief market meltdown.
Frequently asked questions
What is tokenization, according to the Citrini report coverage?
Tokenization turns traditional assets into digital tokens that can move between financial platforms and potentially trade around the clock. Citrini Research argued that this flexibility opens new markets for trading platforms, lenders, stablecoin issuers and companies that handle securities ownership records.
Why does Citrini think tokenization plays could beat bitcoin and ether?
The report said the biggest winners may be the companies and crypto projects collecting fees from tokenization activity. Citrini said investors betting on tokenization may find better opportunities than bitcoin and ether, and that it couldn't assume BTC and ETH would make new all-time highs on the trend.
Which crypto tokens are in Citrini's tokenization basket?
According to CoinDesk, the basket includes Aerodrome (AERO), Maple (SYRUP), Pendle (PENDLE), Ondo Finance (ONDO), Aave, Uniswap, Ethena (ENA), ether.fi (ETHFI), Chainlink and LayerZero. Citrini said the token basket offers broader exposure than the limited universe of listed companies.
