Will ONDO's "tokenization narrative" change after the CEO's unexpected passing?

Ondo Finance Founder and CEO Nathan Allman Passes Away Unexpectedly.

For the RWA track, Nathan Allman is not just a founder who stands on stage telling stories; he is one of the core drivers behind Ondo’s shift from structured DeFi yield products to U.S. Treasuries, dollar-yield assets, stocks, and ETF tokenization. In a sense, the so-called “tokenization first target” often discussed in the market today largely stems from the product roadmap and institutional narratives that Nathan Allman has continuously built over the past few years.

According to the official announcement from Ondo Finance, Nathan Allman unexpectedly passed away, and the specific cause of death has not been disclosed. Ondo also stated that the company’s President, Ian De Bode, will assume the role of CEO. The official announcement specifically mentioned that Nathan’s talent, humility, and execution shaped today’s Ondo, and the company will continue to advance the事业 he pioneered.

Nathan Allman is not a typical pure crypto entrepreneur. He graduated from Brown University, had early experience in private credit investment, and later worked in Goldman Sachs’ digital assets team. It is this background that gave Ondo a strong traditional finance temperament from the start: it is not aiming to create a DeFi protocol completely detached from the real financial system, but rather trying to repackage the most mature, most liquid assets in traditional finance into products that can be held, transferred, combined, and settled on-chain.

In its early days, Ondo was not the RWA leader shape that everyone is familiar with today. In 2021, Ondo was more like a DeFi structured yield protocol, designing different yield tiers for users with varying risk preferences.

Later, as on-chain yield environments changed and demand for stablecoin and U.S. Treasury yields grew, Ondo’s route gradually became clearer: instead of repeatedly creating high-risk yields on-chain, it was better to bring the most stable, largest, and easiest-to-accept assets from off-chain onto the chain.

This shift marked the beginning of Ondo truly entering the mainstream spotlight.

OUSG, USDY, Ondo Global Markets—these form the three main lines of Ondo today. OUSG targets qualified investors, offering on-chain exposure to short-term U.S. Treasuries and money market assets; USDY is more like a dollar-yield product aimed at non-U.S. investors; Ondo Global Markets further tokenizes U.S. stocks and ETFs on-chain, allowing investors outside the U.S. to gain exposure to traditional securities markets on the chain.

In other words, Ondo’s narrative is not simply “U.S. Treasuries on-chain.” What it truly aims to do is turn Wall Street assets into basic modules that can be called upon in the crypto world. Stablecoins solve the issue of dollar circulation on-chain, but Ondo wants to address how dollar assets, Treasury yields, and securities exposure can enter the on-chain financial system.

Nathan Allman spoke at the 9th Annual Fintech Conference in Philadelphia in November. Source: YouTube

This also defines Nathan Allman’s position in the RWA track. He does not represent the most aggressive native crypto route but rather an alternative: making traditional financial assets accept on-chain settlement, and integrating on-chain markets with traditional financial assets. Over the past two years, RWA has shifted from an old concept back into a main narrative, not by shouting “everything on-chain,” but because products like Treasury yields, money market funds, and stock tokenization have begun to genuinely demand, scale, and find compliant pathways. Ondo is one of the most典型的 projects in this space.

So, will Nathan Allman’s passing affect Ondo?

In the short term, the impact is inevitable. The sudden death of a founder is a major event for any project, especially for Ondo, which relies heavily on institutional cooperation, regulatory communication, and long-term product development. The market will worry about three issues in the short term: first, whether the founder’s vision can continue; second, whether institutional partners will reassess their cooperation pace; third, whether ONDO, as a tokenization narrative target, will be re-priced due to the departure of its core figure.

But in the medium to long term, Ondo is not a project solely supported by a single founder’s personal IP. It has built a relatively complete product matrix over the past few years and assembled a management team with a strong traditional finance background. Especially with the new CEO, Ian De Bode, who is not a temporary outsider but an important figure responsible for strategy, product, and daily operations within Ondo for a long time.

New CEO Ian De Bode posts a tribute to Nathan Allman

Ian De Bode previously served as a partner at McKinsey & Company, responsible for digital assets-related businesses. After joining Ondo in 2024, he first served as Chief Strategy Officer and later became President. Ondo also mentioned in the announcement that Ian has been leading the company’s strategy, products, and daily operations for over two years, with full support from the management team.

Lan De Bode introduces ONDO on CNBC

Looking at his background, Ian De Bode and Nathan Allman share similarities: both are not purely crypto-native but come from traditional finance, consulting, and institutional service systems into the digital asset industry. Nathan was more of a product and vision-oriented founder, responsible for taking Ondo from zero to where it is today; Ian, on the other hand, focuses more on institutional strategy and execution, familiar with the real needs of large companies, financial institutions, and senior executives regarding tokenization.

This could be very critical for Ondo’s next phase. The first half of RWA is about narrative and product validation; the second half will definitely involve compliance, distribution, liquidity, and institutional cooperation. Whoever can grow the asset scale, connect brokers, custodians, market makers, public chains, wallets, and trading scenarios, will have the chance to turn “tokenization” from a concept into market infrastructure. Ian De Bode’s background aligns well with the demands of this stage.

Of course, this does not mean Ondo has no risks. ONDO holders need to understand one thing clearly: the growth of Ondo’s product scale does not automatically mean that the ONDO token will generate direct revenue sharing. ONDO mainly carries governance, ecosystem, and RWA narrative premiums, not the actual yields from U.S. Treasuries. The market calls it the “tokenization first target,” and what investors buy into is Ondo’s representativeness and growth prospects in the RWA track, not the cash flow of assets under Ondo.

Therefore, Nathan Allman’s passing is also a stress test for Ondo. It tests whether this project is a founder-driven narrative or has already grown into a set of sustainable financial infrastructure.

If Ian De Bode can maintain product momentum, sustain institutional cooperation, and continue expanding Ondo Global Markets, USDY, and OUSG, then short-term emotional shocks may gradually be absorbed through business continuity.

But if subsequent product development slows, institutional cooperation weakens, or the market begins to question ONDO’s value capture ability, this event could become a point to reassess valuation and narrative.

For the RWA track, Nathan Allman’s passing is a loss. What he truly left behind is not just the Ondo project itself but a clearer path: the crypto industry doesn’t necessarily have to create new assets only on-chain; it can also bring the world’s largest and most mature financial asset markets onto the chain. Whether ONDO can continue to stand at the “tokenization first target” position depends not on mourning words but on whether the new team can continue delivering products, grow assets, and meet real demand.

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