I’ve been in crypto for seven years, and for a long time, I measured its success by the size of the asset class. So looking at this chart… has been a bit discouraging – it doesn’t seem to reflect the real progress we’ve made.

But over time, I realized something didn’t quite add up. We are at an inflection point – stablecoins are reaching escape velocity, tokenization is gaining real traction, and blockchains are ready to support scale. The problem is, a lot of the success of whats being built on top of blockchains isn’t necessarily captured in the market cap of crypto as an asset class.

Reflecting on this further ultimately made me realize that I'd been asking the wrong question.

The traditional asset class taxonomy was built on market structure limitations – different venues, legal wrappers, custodians, and intermediaries. Tokenization – especially when paired with AI – will erode those walls. And when that happens, I believe, it will shake the foundation of asset management.

What many institutions on the sidelines are missing is this: putting assets onchain doesn’t just make them easier to move or trade. It unlocks something far more fundamental – the ability to unbundle assets into their core components: streams of cash flows, and the risk tied to whether and when those cash flows materialize. That’s the real breakthrough.

Tokenization allows you to deconstruct a tokenized bond into the principal repayment and the coupons, equity into dividend streams and capital appreciation, and so on.

This is enabled by locking a tokenized bond into a vault governed by a smart contract that can then mint a coupon payment token and a principal repayment token. These packages of cash flows are further defined by their specific risk parameters – seniority, credit rating, duration, etc.

The beauty is, that all of these components become like lego blocks, that can be combined to engineer very targeted exposures.

Taking this further, you can really bundle tokenized representations of anything – private company equity, real estate, a thematic index, even a strategy itself – to build entirely new types of exposure.

Everything will effectively become structured product.

In essence, structured products allow you to express a specific view, or invest in a theme, with the contract rules defining the desired payoff – incorporating your objectives and risk tolerance.

Tokenization takes that same concept and dramatically expands what’s possible: less friction, more flexibility, and far greater precision.

You got:

• Tokenized cash flows and risk exposures as modular building blocks

• The security and programmable trust of blockchain infrastructure

• Strategy logic and rebalancing rules embedded in smart contracts, executed and optimized by AI

All enabled by blockchains and AI. No MTM programs, SPVs, trusts, legal contracts, and layers of intermediaries required.

Tokenization also lets you isolate the risks you want – and strip out the ones you don’t.

Back when I structured convertible bonds, the classic arb trade involved hedging away interest rate, credit, and equity risk to isolate exposure to just volatility.

Tokenization brings that logic onchain. You could call it “a hedge fund trade in a box.” Protocols like Ethena are already showing what this looks like – the tokenized carry trade is just the beginning. In time, every aspect of such a strategy – from funding, to hedging, to payoff – will be onchain.

Welcome to the future of asset management.

Let’s take a simplified look at how this future compares to how things are done today.

• Instead of broad mandates, you can now be highly specific about desired outcomes – from “generate moderate income with low volatility” to “earn 4–5% yield, capture some AI upside, and preserve capital.”

• We’ll move from allocating to asset classes – 60% equities, 40% bonds – to selecting precise combinations of cash flows and risk exposures.

• Strategies won’t live inside funds, ETFs, or SMAs anymore – they’ll be implemented through programmable smart contracts.

• And with embedded AI agents, these contracts can adjust in real time as market conditions evolve and risk thresholds are hit.

• You still can’t guarantee outcomes – but you can optimize for them far more effectively. That matters – especially when outcomes are your product, and you are competing with crypto-native managers and early adopters.

So, what does this mean for the role of the asset manager? In tech speak – asset managers will move up the stack – from picking assets to architecting portfolios.

The asset manager becomes a portfolio engineer – someone who designs strategies, curates building blocks, monitors performance, and governs vaults as markets and client goals evolve.

The asset management process will start to look a lot more like designing software:

• Define the objectives and constraints for the portfolio.

• Select building blocks to meet those goals.

• Design the strategy – structure the legos into a rules-based portfolio.

• Deploy the strategy as code embedded into a smart contract onchain.

• Onchain, the portfolio is continuously monitored and rebalanced by AI in real-time as markets move.

• Performance and exposures are visible in real time.

This is portfolio construction reimagined.

Is this future far-fetched?

I don’t think so.

We’re at an inflection point:

• Regulatory clarity is on the horizon.

• Scalable blockchain infrastructure is here.

• Stablecoins are on the cusp of mainstream usage.

• AI agents are becoming practical.

And the most forward looking players are already moving:

• Robinhood is becoming a unified access point across asset classes – abstracting away infrastructure complexity, and layering AI-driven insights on top. 

• BlackRock and Franklin Templeton are deploying real-world assets (RWAs) onchain.

• Tokenization platform Securitize has shifted from years of quietly building a foundation for a tokenized world to moving at the speed of light.

• The Solana Policy Institute and SuperState recently sent a proposed framework to the SEC for putting equities onchain.

And these are just a few examples.

This is no longer about just investing in a new asset class. It’s about navigating a paradigm shift that’s underway and will redefine the future of asset management.

Now is the time for institutions to:

• Understand the technology and what it unlocks.

• Study how forward-looking peers are positioning themselves.

• Take a view – and turn it into a strategy for a tokenized future.

• And start playing to familiarize themselves with the infrastructure and ecosystem.

Doing nothing is no longer a viable option. The old playbook won’t work in a tokenized world. A new one is being written – and now’s the time to act.

Disclaimer
The views expressed on this blog are my own and do not reflect the opinions of any past, current, or future employers or affiliates. The content is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal, or professional advice.