GSR Market Director: Many tokenization platforms lack real trading volume, and speculation has exceeded actual usage

According to a report by Cryptonomist, GSR's market director Spencer Hallarn stated in an interview that the hype around tokenization has surpassed the actual usage on many platforms. The issue lies not in the market's demand for tokenized assets, but in the design of the platforms themselves. He pointed out that many walled garden-style tokenization platforms with strict KYC requirements generally lack meaningful trading volume, as cumbersome access and compliance processes limit activity.

Hallarn believes that the real opportunity is not in tokenizing for the sake of tokenization, but in fixing the underlying pipelines of traditional banking and settlement systems, specifically the infrastructure for transferring funds and assets between institutions. This would make tokenization more of an infrastructure repair rather than merely a narrative of crypto products.

He also mentioned that the stagnation in the crypto market this year is largely due to funds shifting towards AI infrastructure, with large tech companies raising substantial amounts of capital for AI infrastructure through equity financing, tightening the liquidity of various assets, and crypto is no exception. Its clients are also shifting from chasing short-term momentum to long-term budget planning, over-the-counter hedging, and RWA. If AI investment cools down and the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates, liquidity is expected to improve and support Bitcoin prices.