Citibank releases a 2030 forecast: the tokenized securities market will soar to $5.5 trillion, with stablecoins paving the way for Wall Street to go fully on-chain

Citi’s latest report, “Tokenization 2030: Wall Street On-Chain,” predicts that the global securities tokenization market will jump from today’s $17 billion to $5.5 trillion by May 2030. Stablecoins alone will create demand for $100 billion in government-bond issuance. DTCC, Nasdaq, and the New York Stock Exchange have already embedded tokenization into their core trading systems.
(Recap: Milestone! The SEC approves DTCC to launch stock tokenization trials, accelerating Wall Street’s on-chain push)
(Background: NYSE formally filed with the SEC to enable tokenized trading of U.S. stocks; Nasdaq’s precedent has already been established.)

Table of Contents

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• Three Major Driving Factors
• Mainstream Public Markets as the Mainstay
• Dual-Track Execution: The E-ZPass Highway Analogy
• “Structural Orchestrators” Are the Biggest Beneficiaries

Citigroup (Citi) released its latest report, “Tokenization 2030: Wall Street On-Chain,” on June 1, 2026, predicting that the global securities tokenization market will surge from the current $17 billion to $5.5 trillion by 2030—a conservative estimate of $2.7 trillion, and in an optimistic scenario as high as $8.2 trillion.

Three Major Driving Factors

Citi says the key to enabling this trillion-dollar wave of assets going on-chain lies in three structural shifts.

First, market infrastructure is embedding tokenization. Wall Street’s core trading institutions have integrated tokenization technology into day-to-day trading systems. In May, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced that it will begin limited tokenized securities production transactions in July, with full rollout scheduled for October. Nasdaq is pushing companies to issue stocks in the form of blockchain-based shares, with plans to start in 2027. Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, is also advancing tokenized stock initiatives and has already received approval from regulators.

Second, stablecoins create real-time settlement capability. Standard stablecoins are projected to grow to a $1.9 trillion market by 2030. Operating alongside digital bank deposits, they allow assets and funds to be exchanged at the same time. Citi estimates that stablecoin expansion alone will create about $100 billion in new U.S. Treasury bond demand, because stablecoin issuers need actual Treasuries as backing.

Third, clearer U.S. regulatory framework. On May 14, the House and Senate Banking Committees passed the Clarity Act with a bipartisan vote of 15 to 9, ending a four-month stalemate and moving the bill to the full Senate for consideration.

Mainstream Public Markets as the Mainstay

Citi’s forecast focuses on mainstream public markets rather than private markets. The report assumes that by 2030: 10% of the U.S. Treasury market and 3% of the U.S. equity market will be tokenized. If only 10% of everyday U.S. investors shift to digital trading platforms, it could generate $2.6 trillion in tokenized stock demand.

By contrast, private credit and private equity are each projected to reach only $100 billion in scale.

Dual-Track Execution: The E-ZPass Highway Analogy

Citi emphasizes that the transition will not be completed overnight. The report uses the highway electronic toll tag E-ZPass as an analogy: roads are not fully automated in a single day. Instead, states first expand road capacity, keep cash lanes alongside electronic lanes, and incur higher short-term costs and confusion—before gradually transitioning everyone over.

This means that traditional finance and digital systems will coexist for the long term, with both old and new settlement channels operating simultaneously.

“Structural Orchestrators” Are the Biggest Beneficiaries

The report notes that this dual-track setup will give “Structural Orchestrators” the greatest advantage—those large banks and investment institutions that control both the real-asset side and the digital payment rails. They can complete the entire transaction process within their own networks, forming a closed but efficient ecosystem.

This also implies that although tokenization may look like a decentralized narrative, in reality, large financial institutions are using blockchain technology to reinforce their existing advantages. Banks that control both the asset side and the payment side will become the gatekeepers of the new ecosystem.