Why the Tokenization Boom May Be a Signal to Buy Bitcoin

Alex Thorn argues that the current wave of enthusiasm for stablecoins, tokenization, and real-world assets echoes earlier cycles when traditional finance declared “blockchain, yes; Bitcoin, no.” He says that same pattern showed up in 2014 through 2016 and again in 2018 and 2019, when permissioned enterprise blockchains drew attention but did not meaningfully change markets or user behavior.

He says the difference now is that institutional adoption of crypto assets is progressing in a more real way, including internal efficiencies in traditional capital markets and the prospect of buying Bitcoin through brokerage accounts more broadly within a year or two. But he still sees the market as underweight the native assets: when everyone crowds into tokenized funds and blockchain infrastructure while dismissing Bitcoin and ether, he thinks that is often the contrarian signal.

Thorn frames the bigger point as a distinction between a useful efficiency upgrade and a deeper monetary revolution. Tokenization may lower costs and speed up settlement, but he says Bitcoin addresses the root problem of trust in traditional currency, which is a much larger thesis than faster stock settlement.