Tokenization Wave: The boundaries of assets are being reshaped "When the great is lacking, its use is not impaired; when the great is full, its use is inexhaustible."

No matter what you call it: ETF, Delta-1 swap, stablecoin, RWA asset tokenization... Ultimately, they are essentially the same thing: a tool that anchors underlying financial assets and achieves a 1:1 synthetic exposure, with the purpose of allowing more people to access and trade these assets conveniently and freely. An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is essentially a fund product that tracks a certain type of asset or index, which can be traded on an exchange, allowing investors to efficiently participate in that asset class without having to manage a basket of underlying assets themselves. Although stablecoins sound trendy, their logic is the same: they anchor to fiat currency prices and provide a price-stable, circulating digital tool on-chain, allowing users to hold an equivalent value in US dollars or other fiat currencies in the blockchain world. Delta-1 swap contracts are tools commonly used by institutional investors. In certain regions with capital or tax controls on foreign investment, by signing Delta-1 contracts with brokers, investors can gain a 1:1 financial exposure to the price of the asset (i.e., delta equals 1) without actually holding the asset itself, thus circumventing regulatory restrictions or compliance hurdles. Before we delve deeper, we need to return to two foundational premises of the crypto industry: First, cryptocurrencies are a new alternative investment asset class; second, blockchain is a new distributed ledger technology. These two are often confused, but the following discussion needs to distinguish between them. The core goals of such synthetic asset products are only two: to lower the threshold and to achieve diversified allocation. Taking Bitcoin ETFs as an example, why did it attract significant market attention 18 months ago? Because it perfectly meets these two goals. First, for traditional investors who do not understand how to buy coins, wallets, or signature operations, Bitcoin ETFs allow them to easily gain BTC exposure using familiar broker systems. Second, investors who have never ventured into crypto assets can finally allocate 1%, 5%, or even 10% of their funds. When countless funds and accounts make small proportion allocations, the accumulated inflow of funds will be considerable. Therefore, the launch of Bitcoin (and Ethereum, Solana, etc.) ETFs is a victory for cryptocurrencies as an 'asset class', but it does not directly benefit blockchain as a 'technical solution'. On the other hand, asset tokenization by xStocks is precisely the opposite. First, if you already hold cryptocurrencies, converting funds to fiat, transferring to a broker account, waiting for the market to open, and then investing in traditional assets is a cumbersome and inefficient process. Now, you can directly use your existing crypto assets to participate in the trading of traditional assets on the Gate platform with a one-click, almost frictionless experience. Second, the logic of diversified allocation still holds. The entire cryptocurrency market is essentially a high-risk asset domain; if one does not want to bear excessive risks, the only option is to park funds in stablecoins, which are relatively safe but also have limited returns. The entire industry actually lacks options for medium-risk assets, and asset tokenization just fills this gap, providing a whole new possibility for asset distribution. Therefore, tokenization is more like a victory for blockchain technology rather than for cryptocurrencies themselves. Think about it, we have achieved cross-market rotation within the crypto asset system for the first time: no need to withdraw funds, no need to jump to traditional financial systems, users can trade these tokenized assets 24/7; all trading pairs support USDT, without needing to convert to the corresponding fiat currency, and support cross-chain efficient settlement, allowing for free transfers. This mechanism also avoids exchange rate fluctuations and bridging costs. More importantly, we have successfully implemented a cross-collateral mechanism: users can use their existing crypto assets as collateral to gain long and short exposure to traditional stock-type assets. This is a problem that banks and brokers have tried to solve for many years but have not yet resolved, and we have achieved it. Synthetic assets are essentially a proxy tool. For example, if you are optimistic about rising oil prices, you naturally wouldn't buy a barrel of crude oil to store at home. Since the day humanity moved away from barter, this financial concept of 'representing value' has evolved and continues to extend to this day. Tokenization is just the latest stage, and the asset classes that can be anchored behind it will become even more diverse in the future. On the other hand, while the theory of asset allocation is not an ancient subject, it has developed for more than seventy years. Modern Portfolio Theory has been widely accepted since 1952 and is applicable to all asset types. Now that there are single-coin ETFs on the market, it is only a matter of time before ETFs representing a basket of crypto assets or crypto index ETFs emerge. Conversely, the tokenization of traditional assets has just begun, and in the future, tokenized products that can anchor a basket of stocks or track indices like MSCI will also become mainstream investment tools. So all of this is just the beginning.
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