Tokenized assets are opening new trading opportunities across financial markets, but the growing supply of real-world assets (RWAs) being brought onchain has yet to be matched by investor demand, according to Alex Taaffe, chief revenue officer at crypto trading firm GSR.
Speaking during on a panel on liquidity and market fragmentation at CONNECT by Cointelegraph: Singapore Edition on Oct. 9, Taaffe said liquidity is improving in trading for pre-IPO stocks, commodities and global equities that investors previously had limited access to. However, he said demand for fully tokenized RWAs has not kept pace with the growing number of assets being issued.
Panelists (l-r): Rayco Tarrida Ortega, Min Teo, Shiliang Tang, Lingling Jiang, Alex Taaffe. Source: Cointelegraph
Cointelegraph brought together Web3 founders, investors and industry executives for four panel discussions covering tokenization, stablecoin payments, onchain trading infrastructure and venture capital exits, alongside a startup pitch competition.
“Specifically on RWAs, and fully tokenized assets, there’s a supply and demand inbalance. There’s a ton of supply. Every asset manager issuer wants to do capital formation onchain,” Taaffe said.
He said that the growing number of asset issuers and blockchains has further fragmented liquidity across tokenized markets.
Lingling Jiang, partner at DWF Labs, agreed that fragmentation remains a challenge, particularly when different issuers tokenize the same underlying asset but create separate liquidity pools.
However, Jiang said cryptocurrency liquidity has improved significantly in recent years, even as the industry has more work to do.
Related: Securitize stock jumps over 10% after launching tokenized US equities on Solana
Stablecoin adoption hinges on everyday payments
During the “Stablecoins at the Point of Sale: Cards, Wallets and the Race for Everyday Spend” panel, Mike Silagadze, founder and CEO of ether.fi, said while stablecoins have made it easier to move money across borders, wider adoption depends on whether consumers can use them for everyday expenses.
Silagadze pointed to Singapore, where consumers may hold USDC but still need local currency to pay bills, highlighting the gap between blockchain payment infrastructure and everyday financial services.
Yvonne Chia, head of communications at USDD, said that if the stablecoin issuer coinsiders the user’s point of view, “the most important thing for you is the user experience.”
“That’s the kind of direction that we want to move in, to make it as easy as possible for the user to have stablecoins, use stablecoins, to the point where it doesn’t cross their mind that they are using a stablecoin. It’s just a regular part of their lives,” Chia said.
Panelists (l-r): Ciaran Lyons (moderator, Cointelegraph), Ilya Podoynitsyn, Yvonne Chia, Mike Silagadze, Ashna Vaghela. Source: Cointelegraph
“The reason no one uses stablecoins in many parts of the world is because it just doesn’t plug into your day-to-day life,” Silagadze said.
Beyond everyday usability, regulatory hurdles remain, Ilya Podoynitsyn, co-founder and CEO of FinHarbor, said. He pointed out that providers must navigate rules that differ across jurisdictions, forcing them to adapt their infrastructure and compliance systems to individual markets.
Ashna Vaghela, chief customer officer at crypto payments provider Mercuryo, said that stablecoin payments should become as straightforward as using Apple Pay, with users able to complete transactions without leaving an application.
“I think that’s the whole point, to be invisible,” Vaghela said.
The discussion came as stablecoin market capitalization stood at $306 billion, up about 2% year over year after growing roughly 74% in the preceding 12 months.
Stablecoin market cap. Source: DefiLlama
Onchain trading faces liquidity fragmentation and risk management challenges
Crypto trading platforms face challenges identifying available liquidity across blockchain networks and managing counterparty risks, according to panelists discussing “What’s Still Missing in the Onchain Trading Stack in 2026.”
Austin Federa, co-founder of DoubleZero, said moving liquidity between blockchain networks remains more difficult than in traditional financial markets. He said that “fragmentation is not just an execution problem, it’s like a data problem,” adding that “it’s actually very hard to figure out how much liquidity truly exists onchain.”
Panelists (l-r): Alice Liu, Franklyn Wang, Miguel Morel, Austin Federa, Eunice Giarta. Source: Cointelegraph
On the risk management side, Miguel Morel, founder and CEO of blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, said trading firms can use onchain data to assess counterparty risks, particularly in prediction markets, where some participants may have an informational advantage over others.
“If you know who’s on the other side and you’re taking less risk, you can offer a tighter spread,” Morel said, adding that this can lead to better prices for customers.
The same blockchain data can also help exchanges evaluate customer deposits, Morel said, allowing them to assess where funds originated and inform compliance decisions.
“Without needing to ask for a passport, you can know where those deposits are coming in from,” Morel said. He added that exchanges can use the information to determine whether to permit trading with deposited funds or refer them for compliance review.
Related: Bitcoin.de trading remains halted as German regulator rejects MiCA application
Crypto investors face tougher exits as markets mature
Liquidity challenges have complicated exits for crypto venture capital investors, according to panelists discussing “The Exit Problem: How Investors Get Their Money Back.”
Pulkit Gupta of Nomad Capital said liquidity in crypto markets has been particularly weak over the past three months, with much of it concentrated in larger cryptocurrencies.
“For me, on the altcoins, it has been really tough for us to get an exit,” Gupta said. The venture capital firm has backed several crypto projects with publicly traded tokens, including Movement, Solayer and Berachain.
Panelists (from l-r): David Shengart (moderator, Cointelegraph), Andre Nabais, Pulkit Gupta, Aleksandr Nexhaev, Sonia Shaw
Source: Cointelegraph
Echoing the shift toward longer-term expectations, Sonia Shaw, CEO of OneAsset, said the market has matured, requiring startups to demonstrate stronger business fundamentals. Recalling an investor who expected an exit within six months, she said, “I don’t think the market’s like that anymore.”
Shaw characterized the move away from rapid exits as a positive sign of market maturity.
Aleksandr Nechaev, partner at Funders VC, highlighted the challenges presented by the speed of change for both products and markets.
“The rapid pace of change makes founders’ expertise and ability central to investment decisions,” Nechaev said. Change and how founding teams navigate the uncertainty came up later in the day during the event’s pitch competition, powered by Funders VC.
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