ARK Invest's flagship Big Ideas 2026 report and discussions at the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos have converged on a single, transformative theme: the migration of global finance on-chain, with tokenization scaling beyond payments into the heart of capital markets. ARK frames this as a fundamental "infrastructure replatforming," where a select few blockchain networks are emerging as the foundational layer for this shift.
The report emphasizes that for market participants, the implications are strategic and operational. Product teams, treasury functions, and risk groups must now develop operating models that assume the presence of tokenized assets and stablecoin liquidity within mainstream financial systems. The critical developments to watch will be which networks secure this infrastructure role and how quickly pilot programs evolve into durable, institution-grade workflows.
This narrative was powerfully echoed at Davos 2026, where crypto discourse moved away from price speculation toward practical integration. Tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) took center stage, framed not as an experiment but as active infrastructure. The total value of tokenized assets has now surpassed $22 billion, signaling significant momentum.
The forum's tone and participants underscored the shift. Conversations featured central bank officials, large asset managers like BlackRock and BNY Mellon, and executives from firms like Coinbase and Ripple, rather than speculative startups. Panels such as "Is Tokenization the Future?" highlighted how traditionally illiquid assets—bonds, equities, funds, and real estate—are increasingly represented on-chain to reduce settlement times, improve liquidity, and enable fractional ownership.
Ethereum's dominance as the primary settlement layer was highlighted, currently hosting more than 65% of tokenized RWAs. Regulatory clarity finalized in 2025 in the US and Europe was repeatedly cited as a key catalyst, providing banks and custodians with clear rules for issuance and custody. US President Donald Trump pointed to the GENIUS Act as establishing a federal framework for payment stablecoins, which were described as the essential "plumbing" connecting traditional finance, DeFi, and tokenized assets.
For investors, the combined message from ARK and Davos suggests crypto's next growth phase will be structural rather than speculative. Consulting giants McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group estimate the tokenized asset market could reach between $2 trillion and $16 trillion by 2030, driven by regulated products and institutional adoption.
