Tech
January 17, 2024

WEF 2024 - Is Tokenization a Crypto Distraction or a Real-world Solution?

If technologies had seasons, then the past 12+ months have been a winter of sorts for digital tokens. The crypto crash, FTX fraud, and big losses for many NFTs. In some people’s minds, a cryptocurrency is, at best, a vehicle for high-risk speculation, and at worst a Ponzi scheme. What once began as wealth democratisation just led to wealth transfer. Early adopters raced to new projects, and now even traditional giants like Blackrock are eyeing a spot in the crypto arena.

Let's go down memory lane so we can reflect on what it's been like in the web3 space, contemplating which shiny new topic was the "next big thing" in web3:

2009: Bitcoin 
2010: Mining 
2011: Altcoins 
2015: Ethereum 
2019: DeFi 
2020: Yield farming 
2021: NFTs 
2022: DAOs
2023: LST
2024: Tokenized assets

Are tokenized assets merely the latest shiny distraction, the promise to “a new economy”? 

Unlike other tokens where price is influenced by purchase sentiment, with tokenized assets the price of a token is tied to their real world evaluation. In other words, unless the real estate market by miracle just flipped upside down, your token would go up in value due to the price increase of that real estate asset.

There are many advantages to a tokenized economy including: enhanced market liquidity which will lead to an increased economic efficiency, financial inclusion, transparency etc. but a quick google search will easily get you 20 more answers.

We believe that tokenisation is like killing two birds with one stone, mass adoption will be reached at a much faster rate and the economic landscape as we know it today will drastically change, bringing true democratisation of the economy.

So, what are our expectations for WEF?

While tokenized assets have lingered in discussions for years, they are only now stepping into the light and having its moment. Will the World Economic Forum serve as another platform for brainstorming ideas and discussing "potential" solutions, or will it usher in concrete actions? Will the public and private sectors unite to aid nations, or will this annual gathering merely echo discussions on the potential of ...