Layer One: Securitize CEO on the "end of the beginning" for tokenized assets

Welcome to Layer One: the newsletter and podcast on the intersection of crypto and the real world. Hosted by Steven Gates and Kelvin Sparks, Layer One brings you inside the conversations driving blockchain forward.

This week, the team was joined by guest co-host John Wu, President of Ava Labs, and Carlos Domingo, CEO of Securitize, to discuss the latter's billion-dollar public listing and the “end of the beginning” for tokenized assets.

In this edition of the Layer One newsletter, we're taking a closer look at this firm at the bleeding edge of real-world assets, and asking where Wall Street’s tokenization momentum will take it next.

Securitize public merger will mark "end of the beginning" for tokenization

Last month, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink released his annual letter to investors, in which he outlined plans to expand the firm's tokenized offerings throughout 2026. The asset management giant has been a leading proponent of tokenization in recent years. Its BUIDL tokenized treasury fund, launched in partnership with Securitize in 2024, quickly became the largest of its kind (currently sitting at $2.2 billion).

This was the starting gun for a wide-ranging tokenization drive in US markets. Speaking to the Layer One team at the Digital Asset Summit in New York this week, Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo outlined how regulatory easing has opened the door for tokenized securities to eventually become the norm across traditional finance.

As we covered last week, his own company was recently enlisted by the NYSE to build its in-house tokenized asset trading infrastructure. Stories like this are becoming increasingly common as financial firms recognize the utility of blockchain as enterprise technology, rather than just an arena for wild speculation.

Even though the groundwork for this growth is largely in place, some questions still remain over how regulators will handle tokenized securities. Last week the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on the issue, in which some lawmakers voiced concerns over a potential “two-tiered market” with tokenized securities afforded lax safeguards in the name of fostering innovation.

Domingo argues this is in contrast to the established position of the SEC, which since mid-2025 has reiterated the position that “tokenized securities are still securities.” In other words, the underlying tech will be irrelevant to their regulatory status in the long run.

Where tokenization firms, regulators and lawmakers all agree is the inevitability of the trend. Already the total onchain RWA volume has surpassed $28 billion (a more than 3x increase from this time last year). Still, this is a drop in the ocean compared to where the markets could be a decade from now.

Domingo told us he'll consider his mission complete when the term “tokenized securities” is rendered obsolete, since the majority of securities will be tokenized by default.

The next step in this journey is his firm’s public listing on the NASDAQ. Securitize has filed for a merger with “blank check” firm Cantor Equity Partners II, expected to conclude some time in the coming months. This will see Cantor’s CEPT stock rebranded as SECZ, with the new company launching at a $1.25 billion pre-money equity valuation.

Research firm Benchmark this week published a report on the merger, calling it a strong “picks and shovels” play as markets move towards tokenization with increasing pace. Securitize's own documentation on the deal estimates the total addressable market of this gold rush at $19 trillion.

In Domingo’s words, we’re still just at “the end of the beginning.”

Podcast Recap: Securitize CEO on the trillion-dollar future of tokenization

In the Headlines: The stories driving the conversation this week

• Coinbase CLO Paul Grewal has suggested major progress is imminent in the ongoing Clarity Act negotiations. Grewal told Fox Business a deal between the crypto and banking industries could be “very close” after months of deadlock. This comes as other industry voices grow increasingly pessimistic over the bill’s progress, with TD Cowen this week giving it a one-in-three chance of passing this year.
• BlackRock has partnered with Chronicle to utilize its tokenized fund “integrity layer.” The oracle provider's Proof of Asset dashboard will list real-time, verified information on the composition of the BUIDL fund, ultimately offering stronger assurances for institutional investors. Chronicle CEO Niklas Kunkel said BlackRock’s move “sets a new standard for what transparency should look like in tokenized finance.”
• Avalanche’s inaugural Build Games development competition has come to a close. The contest saw 2,000 fledgling projects from diverse sectors compete for a share of the million-dollar prize pot. Credit infrastructure protocol Meridian ultimately walked away with the $100,000 grand prize.

Securitize set to merge with Cantor Fitzgerald-sponsored SPAC this year

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