Huma Finance recently secured a $38 million funding round aimed at expanding its payment-financing (PayFi) platform. The investment includes both equity and yield-bearing tokenized real-world assets (RWA), with Distributed Global leading the equity round and Stellar Development Foundation leading the RWA portion. The tokenized RWAs consist of multitranche bonds wrapped into exchange-traded products issued by Arf Capital, a Switzerland-based firm operating under Swiss Distributed Ledger Technology laws. Huma plans to extend its platform to additional blockchain ecosystems, such as Solana and Stellar’s Soroban smart-contract network, in the near future.
Tokenized RWAs are becoming a key application of blockchain technology, allowing financial institutions to transfer assets like bonds and credit onto distributed ledgers for faster settlements, enhanced transparency, and operational efficiency. Huma Finance merged with Arf earlier this year to focus on tokenizing RWAs, operating as a joint holding entity while maintaining independence. The combined entity is expected to facilitate $10 billion in payments-financing transactions next year, bringing liquidity and interoperability to the industry, according to Chao Deng, CEO of Hashkey Capital.
Despite optimistic projections suggesting that tokenized RWAs could reach $30 trillion by 2030, some industry experts, like Jamie Coutts, chief crypto analyst at Real Vision, believe a more realistic valuation is around $1.3 trillion. Coutts noted that if the current compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 121% for tokenized assets continues, the market could reach $1.3 trillion by 2030. Other reports from McKinsey & Company and the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA) estimate the tokenized asset market to reach $2 trillion and $16 trillion, respectively, by 2030. Even more conservative estimates from Citigroup suggest $4 trillion to $5 trillion in tokenized digital securities could be minted by 2030.
Major companies are recognizing the potential in the tokenized asset market, with Goldman Sachs planning to launch three new tokenization products later this year in response to growing client interest. This push towards tokenization is driven by the promise of increased liquidity, transparency, and efficiency in the financial industry. As blockchain technology continues to mature and gain adoption, the tokenized asset market is poised for significant growth in the coming years, offering new opportunities for investors and financial institutions alike to leverage the benefits of digitized assets.
