Securitize, a tokenization platform, announced on September 20 that it has integrated cross-chain communication protocol Wormhole “to provide cross-chain functionality to all assets tokenized via the Securitize platform.”
Real-world assets (RWAs), including tokenized claims to financial assets, commodities, or art, are emerging as one of the most popular market segments for cryptocurrencies, but adoption is hampered by restrictions on transfers between blockchain networks and wallets.
“Tokenized securities need to thrive on public, permissionless blockchains to unlock the potential of blockchain technology,” Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo said in a statement.
Securitize said the goal of the integration is to “enable sub-second, sub-penny transactions” and foster the RWA cross-chain ecosystem.
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On September 18, WisdomTree launched the RWA platform, which is designed to allow users to access the asset manager’s RWA tokens from any type of wallet or blockchain network. Asset manager Franklin Templeton told Cointelegraph in July that he had similar plans.
Securitize sells RWA tokenization as a service to institutional investment managers, including BlackRock, Hamilton Lane InvestCorp, and KKR. According to Securitize’s website, it has invested approximately $1 billion in RWA and is registered with U.S. regulators as a broker-dealer, transfer agent, and alternative trading system (ATS).
According to RWA.xyz, tokenized RWA already represents over $12 billion in total value locked (TVL). This represents a $30 trillion market opportunity globally, Polygon’s global head of institutional capital, Colin Butler, told Cointelegraph in August.
The largest tokenized investment funds by assets under management (AUM) are the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) and the Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund (FOBXX), with approximately $520 million and $430 million in AUM, respectively.
Wormhole is a blockchain protocol specialized in sending and verifying messages containing data about token transfers between various blockchains. It connects about 30 networks and layer 2 scaling chains, including Ethereum (ETH), Avalanche, and Solana (SOL).
According to RWA.xyz, Ethereum dominates RWA in terms of total value locked (TVL), with around $9 billion as of September 20. Issuers are expanding to other chains, with Franklin Templeton reportedly planning to launch a tokenized fund on Solana on September 20.
“More seamless cross-chain integrations lay the foundation for greater institutional adoption of tokenized assets,” Robinson Burkey, CCO of the Wormhole Foundation, said in a statement.
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