Tokenization Wave: The boundaries of assets are being reshaped "When the great is like a deficiency, its use is not hindered; when the great is like an abundance, its use is not exhausted."

No matter what you call it: ETF, Delta-1 swap, stablecoin, RWA asset tokenization… at the end of the day, they are essentially the same thing: a tool that anchors underlying financial assets and achieves a 1:1 synthetic exposure, with the aim of allowing more people to access and trade these assets more conveniently and freely. An ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) is fundamentally a fund product that tracks a certain type of asset or index, which can be traded on an exchange, allowing investors to participate efficiently in that asset class without having to manage a basket of underlying assets themselves. Although stablecoins may sound trendy, their logic is essentially the same: they peg to fiat currency prices, providing a price-stable and tradable digital tool on-chain, enabling users to hold an equivalent amount of US dollars or other fiat currencies in the blockchain world. Delta-1 swap contracts are tools commonly used by institutional investors. In certain regions with quotas or tax controls on foreign capital, by signing Delta-1 contracts with brokers, investors can obtain a 1:1 financial exposure to the asset's price (i.e., delta equals 1) without actually holding the underlying asset, thus bypassing regulatory restrictions or compliance obstacles. Before we delve deeper, we need to return to two fundamental premises of the cryptocurrency industry: first, cryptocurrencies are a new alternative investment asset class; second, blockchain is a new distributed ledger technology. These two are often confused, but the following discussion needs to distinguish between them. The core objectives of such synthetic asset products are only two: to lower the threshold and to achieve diversified allocation. Taking Bitcoin ETF as an example. Why did it attract significant market attention 18 months ago? Because it perfectly met these two goals. First, for traditional investors who do not understand how to buy coins, wallets, or signature operations, Bitcoin ETF allows them to easily gain BTC exposure using familiar brokerage systems. Second, those who have never ventured into crypto assets can finally allocate 1%, 5%, or even 10% of their funds. When countless funds and accounts make small percentage allocations, the accumulated influx of funds can be very substantial. Therefore, the launch of Bitcoin (and Ethereum, Solana, etc.) ETFs is a victory for cryptocurrencies as an 'asset class,' but it does not directly benefit blockchain as a 'technical solution.' On the other hand, xStocks' asset tokenization is exactly the reverse. First, if you already hold cryptocurrencies, converting your funds into fiat currency, then transferring them into a brokerage account, waiting for the market to open, and finally investing in traditional assets – the entire process is cumbersome and inefficient. But now, you can directly participate in traditional asset trading on the Gate platform using your existing crypto assets with just one click, providing almost a zero-friction experience. Second, the logic of diversified allocation still holds. The entire cryptocurrency market is essentially a high-risk asset field; if you do not want to bear excessive risk, you can only park your funds in stablecoins, which are relatively safe but also have limited returns. The entire industry actually lacks options for medium-risk assets, and asset tokenization just fills this gap, offering a whole new possibility for asset distribution. Therefore, tokenization is more like a victory for blockchain technology rather than a victory for cryptocurrencies themselves. Think about it, we have achieved cross-market rotation within the crypto asset system for the first time: no need to withdraw funds, no need to jump to the traditional financial system, users can trade these tokenized assets 24/7; all trading pairs support USDT, eliminating the need to convert to the corresponding fiat currency, and supporting efficient cross-chain settlement and transfers. This mechanism also avoids exchange rate fluctuations and bridging costs. More importantly, we have successfully implemented a cross-collateral mechanism: users can use their existing crypto assets as collateral to gain long and short exposure to traditional stock assets. This is a problem that banks and brokers have been trying to solve for years but have yet to resolve, and we have achieved it. Synthetic assets are essentially a proxy tool. For example, if you are optimistic about future oil price increases, you naturally would not actually buy a barrel of crude oil to store at home. From the day humanity stepped out of bartering, this financial concept of 'representing value' has begun to evolve and has been extending ever since. Tokenization is just the latest stage, and the asset classes that can be anchored behind it will become more diverse in the future. On the other hand, while the theory of asset allocation is not ancient knowledge, its development has exceeded seventy years. Modern Portfolio Theory has been widely accepted since 1952 and is applicable across all asset types. Now that there are single-currency ETFs in the market, it is only a matter of time before ETFs that represent a basket of crypto assets or crypto index ETFs emerge. Conversely, the tokenization of traditional assets has just begun, and in the future, tokenized products that can anchor a basket of stocks or track indices like MSCI will also become mainstream investment tools. So all of this is just the beginning.
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