Tokenized Real-World Assets Face Supply and Demand Imbalance, Industry Experts Say at Singapore Summit

Tokenized assets are rapidly opening up exciting new trading opportunities across traditional and digital financial markets, but the rapidly growing supply of real-world assets (RWAs) being brought onchain has yet to be matched by commensurate investor demand. This critical mismatch was a central topic of discussion among leading industry executives, drawing sharp focus to the evolving dynamics of market liquidity, cross-chain fragmentation, and the broader maturation of the digital asset ecosystem.

Speaking during a panel discussion focused on liquidity and market fragmentation at CONNECT by Cointelegraph: Singapore Edition on Oct. 9, Alex Taaffe, the chief revenue officer at prominent crypto trading firm GSR, highlighted both the progress and the persistent bottlenecks in the tokenization sector. Taaffe noted that while liquidity is visibly improving in trading categories such as pre-IPO stocks, commodities, and global equities—asset classes that historically offered retail and crypto-native investors only limited access—the market for fully tokenized real-world assets is struggling to find equilibrium.

The event itself brought together a diverse cohort of Web3 founders, institutional investors, and senior industry executives for a comprehensive series of four panel discussions. These sessions tackled pressing topics ranging from tokenization and stablecoin payments to onchain trading infrastructure and venture capital exits, complemented by a live startup pitch competition that showcased emerging talent in the space.

"Specifically on RWAs, and fully tokenized assets, there’s a supply and demand imbalance. There’s a ton of supply. Every asset manager issuer wants to do capital formation onchain," Taaffe told attendees.

According to Taaffe, the proliferation of new asset issuers and the expanding landscape of blockchains have inadvertently exacerbated market conditions by further fragmenting liquidity across various tokenized venues. This sentiment was echoed by Lingling Jiang, a partner at DWF Labs, who agreed that fragmentation remains a persistent and formidable challenge for the industry. Jiang pointed out that the issue is particularly acute when different issuers choose to tokenize the exact same underlying asset, inadvertently creating isolated and separate liquidity pools rather than a unified, deep market. Nonetheless, Jiang also acknowledged the broader positive trajectory, noting that cryptocurrency liquidity has improved significantly over recent years, even as the industry acknowledges that considerable work remains to be done to achieve seamless integration.

Stablecoin Adoption Hinges on Everyday Payments

Moving from tokenized securities and assets to the realm of transactional currency, the dialogue at the Singapore summit shifted toward the practical utility of digital cash. During the panel titled "Stablecoins at the Point of Sale: Cards, Wallets and the Race for Everyday Spend," Mike Silagadze, the founder and CEO of ether.fi, addressed the ongoing evolution of blockchain-based money. While Silagadze acknowledged that stablecoins have successfully streamlined the process of moving capital across international borders, he emphasized that achieving truly mainstream, widespread adoption ultimately depends on whether everyday consumers can seamlessly use these assets for routine, daily expenses.

Silagadze drew attention to practical scenarios in developed financial hubs like Singapore, where a consumer might hold digital dollars such as USDC in a digital wallet but still find themselves forced to rely on traditional local currency to pay ordinary bills or purchase everyday goods. This friction highlights a persistent gap between advanced blockchain payment infrastructure and the fluid expectations of everyday financial services.

Yvonne Chia, head of communications at USDD, reinforced this perspective by emphasizing that from the perspective of the stablecoin issuer, user experience must remain the absolute priority. "That’s the kind of direction that we want to move in, to make it as easy as possible for the user to have stablecoins, use stablecoins, to the point where it doesn’t cross their mind that they are using a stablecoin. It’s just a regular part of their lives," Chia explained.

Reiterating the core obstacle to mass adoption, Silagadze added, "The reason no one uses stablecoins in many parts of the world is because it just doesn’t plug into your day-to-day life."

Beyond the challenges of everyday usability, regulatory hurdles continue to complicate the landscape, according to Ilya Podoynitsyn, co-founder and CEO of FinHarbor. Podoynitsyn pointed out that digital asset providers must carefully navigate a complex patchwork of rules that differ significantly from one jurisdiction to another. This regulatory fragmentation forces companies to continuously adapt their underlying infrastructure and compliance frameworks to meet the specific demands of individual markets.

Adding to the discussion on user-centric design, Ashna Vaghela, chief customer officer at crypto payments provider Mercuryo, argued that stablecoin payment experiences should ideally become as straightforward and frictionless as using mainstream applications like Apple Pay, allowing users to complete transactions instantly without ever needing to leave an application interface. "I think that’s the whole point, to be invisible," Vaghela noted.

These debates unfolded against a backdrop of substantial market valuation, with the total stablecoin market capitalization hovering around $306 billion, reflecting a modest growth of about 2% year over year following a dramatic 74% surge in the preceding 12-month period.

Onchain Trading Faces Liquidity Fragmentation and Risk Management Challenges

As digital asset markets continue to evolve, crypto trading platforms are actively grappling with the complex task of identifying genuinely available liquidity across a sprawling network of blockchains while simultaneously managing sophisticated counterparty risks. These themes took center stage during a panel appropriately titled "What’s Still Missing in the Onchain Trading Stack in 2026."

Austin Federa, co-founder of DoubleZero, explained that moving liquidity fluidly between disparate blockchain networks remains significantly more difficult than executing similar transfers in traditional financial markets. Describing the core technical bottleneck, Federa noted that "fragmentation is not just an execution problem, it’s like a data problem," adding that "it’s actually very hard to figure out how much liquidity truly exists onchain."

On the risk management front, Miguel Morel, founder and CEO of blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, highlighted how modern trading firms are beginning to leverage transparent onchain data to accurately assess counterparty risks. This is particularly relevant in specialized sectors like prediction markets, where certain well-informed participants may hold a distinct informational advantage over others.

"If you know who’s on the other side and you’re taking less risk, you can offer a tighter spread," Morel explained, noting that such transparency can ultimately translate into better pricing for everyday customers. Furthermore, Morel explained that the same granular blockchain data can assist exchanges in evaluating incoming customer deposits, helping compliance teams determine the exact origin of funds and make informed operational decisions. "Without needing to ask for a passport, you can know where those deposits are coming in from," Morel said, adding that platforms can utilize this intelligence to decide whether to immediately permit trading activity or route funds for a deeper compliance review.

Crypto Investors Face Tougher Exits as Markets Mature

While technological and infrastructural hurdles remain a focal point for builders and traders alike, liquidity constraints have also significantly complicated the exit strategies for crypto venture capital investors. This pressing concern was dissected by panelists participating in a session titled "The Exit Problem: How Investors Get Their Money Back."

Pulkit Gupta of Nomad Capital candidly shared that liquidity conditions across the broader crypto markets have been notably sluggish over the preceding three months, with a vast majority of active capital remaining heavily concentrated within the largest, most established cryptocurrencies. "For me, on the altcoins, it has been really tough for us to get an exit," Gupta admitted, noting the current reality for his firm, which has previously backed several prominent crypto projects with publicly traded tokens, including Movement, Solayer, and Berachain.

Reflecting a broader shift toward more realistic, long-term expectations within the venture capital ecosystem, Sonia Shaw, CEO of OneAsset, emphasized that the market has visibly matured. This evolution now requires early-stage startups to demonstrate much stronger, sustainable business fundamentals rather than relying solely on speculative hype. Recalling an encounter with an investor who once anticipated a complete exit within a mere six months, Shaw remarked, "I don’t think the market’s like that anymore," characterizing this necessary departure from rapid, easy exits as a healthy and positive sign of an increasingly sophisticated industry.

Aleksandr Nechaev, a partner at Funders VC, further underscored the distinct challenges introduced by the relentless speed of change affecting both underlying products and shifting market sentiment. "The rapid pace of change makes founders’ expertise and ability central to investment decisions," Nechaev observed. The themes of adaptability, rapid market shifts, and the resilience required by founding teams in navigating persistent uncertainty resurfaced later in the day during the event’s closely watched pitch competition, which was powered by Funders VC to highlight the next generation of emerging Web3 innovators.