Marketing Communication

The $25 Billion Tip of the Iceberg: Positioning for the Tokenisation of Global Finance

09 March 2026

Menno Martens

Crypto Specialist and Product Manager

Tokenised Real-World Assets have just crossed a major milestone: distributed on-chain RWAs have surpassed ~$25B in value, which is 5x growth in 1 year. That figure alone would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. The rise of tokenised RWAs should be of no surprise as it has always been one of the key areas that Ethereum focused on since its inception in 2015. It markets itself as the platform for the future of finance, this being an ecosystem where trust and execution are largely automated, significantly improving today's offering of financial products and services.

And yet, this milestone is likely only the tip of the iceberg.

For perspective (figures from end of 2025):

Global bonds: ~$130T+
Global equities: ~$120T+
Money market funds: ~$11T+
Private credit: ~$3T+

Tokenisation today represents a fraction of a percent of global financial assets. If even a small portion of traditional capital markets' infrastructure migrates on-chain over the coming decade, the growth opportunity is structurally asymmetric. Supportive regulation can enable tokenization to scale further and bring comfort to all stakeholders without compromising on the key advantages of Crypto rails. That is why we strongly believe this is only the start of a much larger structural technology shift.

Investing in digital assets and crypto-related products involves significant risk, including the possible loss of the entire amount invested. The value of investments can go up as well as down. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. The following should not be construed as investment advice.

But why are asset managers tokenizing in the first place?

Tokenized securities, digital representations of traditional financial assets on a blockchain, offer significant potential for cost savings and efficiency benefits. Estimates indicate a potential 22% to 85% reduction in middle and back-office costs by 2028, according to industry analysis (Cashlink). These savings are primarily driven by the elimination of manual reconciliations, accelerated settlement times, and reduced intermediary involvement. Arguably, some financial products will be impacted more than others. In general, the more third parties or intermediaries are involved, the larger the potential cost savings and efficiency gains.

The key client question becomes: How do you position for structural shift of TradFi to (regulated) DeFi?

1. Ethereum: The Cleanest Core Exposure

Ethereum currently represents the majority share of distributed on-chain RWA value.

RWA Market Share by Network (Distributed Assets)

Source: RWA.xyz. Data as of 28/02/2026. Historic performance is not a guarantee for future results.

Why this matters:

Most tokenised Treasuries, funds, and structured RWAs are issued on Ethereum.
Liquidity, integrations, and secondary activity follow issuance.
The network with the most assets tends to reinforce its lead.

If RWAs are a multi-year structural trend, Ethereum is where most of the value is already landing.

Higher network activity means higher network revenue --> more ETH burned and higher staking rewards --> decreased circulating supply and increased demand to hold ETH as productive asset and as utility token. Its dynamic monetary policy is aimed at creating a balance between the store of value and utility. This is ETH’s ultra-sound money thesis; similar models are applied by other leading L1s.

For investors seeking direct exposure to Ethereum as the dominant RWA settlement layer, the VanEck Ethereum ETN (VETH) offers a regulated, exchange-listed instrument backed 1:1 by physically held Ether.

Risk: Ethereum is a highly volatile digital asset. Its value can fluctuate significantly in short periods. Regulatory changes, technological developments, or shifts in market sentiment could adversely affect the price of ETH. VETH investors are exposed to the full price volatility of Ether.

2. Stablecoins: The Settlement Fuel (and Ethereum Holds the Largest Tank)

RWAs cannot scale without on-chain fiat.

Stablecoin Market Cap (Ethereum vs Rest)

Source: Artemis.xyz, Data as of 06/03/2026. Historic performance is not a guarantee for future results.

Why this matters:

Subscriptions/redemptions require on-chain cash.
Secondary trading requires collateral and settlement currency.
Lending, repo-style financing, and structured strategies require deep liquidity.

The chain with the deepest stablecoin base likely becomes the default settlement layer. Ethereum remains the core venue for on-chain dollar liquidity which further reinforces the structural case for VETH as core portfolio exposure to the tokenisation trend.

3. Institutional Validation Happens on Ethereum First

When major regulated institutions tokenize flagship products, launch venue matters. Ethereum has been the platform of choice for major issuers to launch a product This signals:

Institutional comfort with Ethereum’s security and neutrality.
Integration maturity across custody, compliance, and tooling.
Ethereum as the default base layer for production-scale tokenization.

Risk: Institutional adoption of blockchain technology does not guarantee investment returns. The tokenisation market remains nascent and subject to evolving regulation, technological risk, and uncertain adoption timelines.

4. A More Diversified Approach: Platform Exposure via VTOP or VSMA

While Ethereum represents the cleanest single-network exposure, investors seeking broader platform diversification can consider:

VanEck Crypto Leaders ETN (VTOP) - provides diversified exposure across leading smart contract platforms competing for RWA issuance and settlement flows.
VanEck Smart Contract Leaders ETN (VSMA) - focused exposure to the leading smart contract platform ecosystem, capturing the infrastructure layer enabling tokenisation at scale.

These products provide diversified exposure across smart contract platforms that are competing for RWA issuance and settlement flows by being fully collateralized instruments that invest in baskets of tokens which are quarterly rebalanced to include potential winners.

This positioning resonates particularly well with:

Investors concerned about single-chain concentration risk
Investors who want exposure to the broader “tokenisation infrastructure layer”
Investors that frame RWAs as a multi-platform structural trend

In conclusion: Ethereum is the dominant base layer today, but VTOP or VSMA provide broader exposure to the platform ecosystem enabling tokenisation.

Risk: Diversification across multiple blockchain platforms does not eliminate risk. Individual components within VTOP and VSMA may be highly volatile, illiquid, or subject to regulatory uncertainty. Investors may lose part or all of their investment.

5. Oracles: The Hidden Critical Infrastructure of RWAs

A crucial and often underappreciated component of tokenised RWAs is oracles.

Tokenised assets require:

Price feeds
NAV updates
Interest rate data
Corporate action inputs
Off-chain verification (proof of reserves, asset backing, compliance triggers)

Without secure and reliable data feeds, tokenised RWAs simply cannot function. Oracles are effectively the bridge between off-chain reality and on-chain execution.

This makes them structurally embedded in:

Tokenised Treasuries
Tokenised funds
On-chain credit markets
Collateralised lending
Structured yield strategies

Investors can gain exposure to this critical infrastructure layer via:

VanEck Chainlink ETN (VLNK) - direct exposure to Chainlink, the market-leading decentralised oracle network widely used across tokenised asset platforms.
VanEck Pyth ETN (VPYT) - exposure to Pyth Network, a high-fidelity oracle network increasingly adopted for real-time financial data feeds in institutional-grade DeFi applications.

If Ethereum is the settlement layer of tokenised finance, oracles are the data layer that makes tokenisation possible. VLNK and VPYT offer targeted access to this often overlooked but essential component of the tokenized RWA technology stack.

Risk: Oracle networks are a specialised and relatively early-stage segment of the digital asset ecosystem. The value of LINK and PYTH tokens can be highly volatile and may be affected by competition from alternative oracle solutions, changes in DeFi activity levels, or adverse regulatory developments.

Oracle Marketshare

Source: Defillama, Data as of 06/03/2026. Historic performance is not a guarantee for future results.

If Ethereum is the settlement layer of tokenised finance, oracles are the data layer that makes tokenisation possible.

6. Positioning for Client Conversations

As investor you could structure a portfolio across three layers:

Core Exposure

VanEck Ethereum ETN (VETH) → Settlement layer + dominant RWA issuance venue

Diversified Platform Exposure

VanEck Crypto Leaders ETN (VTOP) / VanEck Smart Contract Leaders ETN (VSMA) → Basket approach across the smart contract platform ecosystem

Infrastructure Layer (Data & Verification)

VanEck Chainlink ETN (VLNK) / VanEck Pyth ETN (VPYT) → Oracle and data infrastructure exposure

This is not financial research but the opinion of the author of the article. We publish this information to inform and educate about recent market developments and technological updates, not to give any recommendation for certain products or projects. The selection of articles should therefore not be understood as financial advice or recommendation for any specific product and/or digital asset. We may occasionally include analysis of past market, network performance expectations and/or on-chain performance. Historical performance is not indicative for future returns.

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