What is the current scale of real-world asset tokenization globally, and how fast is it growing?
Global tokenization of real-world assets has just surpassed approximately $25 billion across the RWA community. US Treasuries alone have grown by 500% in less than two years — a pace that Angie Walker, Global Head of Commercialization at Apex Digital, describes as a "perfect storm moment" for the industry.
Three forces are converging to drive this acceleration: existing institutional investors expanding their private market holdings, a new wave of DeFi-native investors entering the space, and a rising demand for broader, always-on access to assets. According to the Apex Digital and Mergermarket survey of 100 senior asset managers spanning the Americas, EMEA, and APAC, 42% of respondents cited broadening investor access as the primary driver behind their tokenization initiatives — making it the single most cited motivation in the report. You can explore the full episode and its findings on Listenly's The Single Source page.
The demographic dimension reinforces why this growth is structural rather than cyclical. The average active retail investor in DeFi is approximately 27 years old, compared to the average traditional fund investor who is in their early 50s. With an estimated $124 trillion set to be passed down across generations over the coming two decades, the next cohort of wealth holders will arrive with very different expectations around access, liquidity, and digital-first infrastructure.
"Distribution is king. Everything we do is actually all about distribution — whether that's distribution onto a chain or multiple chains, distribution to a centralized digital venue, a decentralized digital venue, or to an aggregator."
— Angie Walker, Global Head of Commercialization, Apex DigitalAbout Tom Bennett
Tom Bennett serves as Global Head of Fintech at Apex Digital, where he leads the firm's technology and innovation strategy across its digital asset services division. In this episode, he joined forces with Angie Walker, Global Head of Commercialization for Apex Digital, to present the findings of a major tokenization survey produced in partnership with Mergermarket — covering 100 senior managers at asset and fund managers with AUM ranging from $500 million to $5 billion, split across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC.
Bennett's perspective on the market is grounded in Apex Digital's unusual position in the industry: the firm represents approximately 16% of all global crypto fund administration and brings 13 years of experience in the digital assets sector. This operational footprint gives Bennett direct visibility into where tokenization adoption is accelerating and where structural barriers persist. His co-presenter, Walker, joined Apex one year prior to the recording and oversaw a remarkable expansion of the firm's tokenization pipeline — from 31 projects in flight to 557 active projects within a single year, representing approximately 2,000% growth. Together, their testimony on the scale and pace of the RWA market reflects both proprietary survey data and lived operational experience at the heart of this transformation.
See also
Apex Digital partnered with Mergermarket to examine how asset and fund managers are approaching tokenization in practice. The survey aimed to determine where adoption currently stands, what use cases are emerging, and what challenges remain in moving tokenization from early adopters to mainstream acceptance.