The tokenization of real-world assets represents a nearly $19 trillion opportunity by 2033, with different crypto networks poised to capture value in distinct phases, according to Grayscale’s head of research.

"Investors should think about it less as a single trade and more as a long roadmap with different winners at different stages," Zach Pandl, Head of Research at Grayscale, said at the EthCC conference in Cannes, France.

The current tokenized asset market stands at just $27 billion, a fraction of its potential, per industry data. Pandl laid out a three-phase adoption curve, starting with institution-friendly permissioned networks before moving toward more decentralized, global platforms.

This phased adoption suggests early, more conservative gains may come from private blockchains, while higher growth potential from public networks like Ethereum and Avalanche could require a longer investment horizon as institutional comfort and technology matures.

In the immediate phase, Pandl identified permissioned, institution-centric systems like the Canton Network as likely early beneficiaries. Backed by financial heavyweights including Goldman Sachs and Nasdaq, such networks solve for enterprise needs like privacy and control, offering what Pandl called "a slightly upgraded version" of today’s financial system.

The second phase could belong to hybrid models like Avalanche (AVAX). Its architecture uses hundreds of sovereign, corporate-owned "subnets" that connect to a primary Layer-1 blockchain, balancing private operations with public network interoperability.

Grayscale views Ethereum (ETH) as the ultimate, long-term beneficiary of the tokenization trend, representing the move toward "global decentralized finance." However, Pandl cautioned that "the tech is not fully ready" and that institutions are not yet prepared for this final phase, making ETH a more ambitious, longer-term investment.

Pandl also highlighted chain-agnostic infrastructure providers like Chainlink as a "picks-and-shovels" play on the entire sector, suggesting they may be "even more compelling" than betting on a single blockchain.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.