BlackRock believes Ethereum stands to gain significantly from tokenization.
By 2030, the market capitalization of Bitcoin is projected to reach $16 trillion, while the total value of the digital asset market could hit $28 trillion, according to a report from ARK Invest's Cathie Wood.
This $16 trillion valuation implies a Bitcoin price of approximately $761,900, assuming a supply of 21 million coins. This represents a 746% increase from current prices around $90,000, with an average annual growth rate of about 61%.
ARK analysts have dubbed Bitcoin "digital gold," positioning it as a leader in a new class of institutional assets. Growth will be driven by widespread adoption of public blockchains, inflows into ETFs, and corporate accumulation of coins.
According to the firm, spot crypto funds in the U.S. and public companies now control 12% of the total coin supply (up from 8.7% previously). In 2025, fund balances increased by 19.7% (to 1.29 million BTC), while corporate reserves grew by 73% (to 1.09 million BTC).
ARK maintains a long-term bullish outlook, albeit with some adjustments to their model. They have raised their target market cap for Bitcoin due to the increasing market capitalization of physical gold, but have lowered expectations for Bitcoin's use as a safe-haven asset in developing countries, a space now occupied by stablecoins.
In the smart contract platform sector, ARK analysts forecast a market cap growth to $6 trillion, with annual network revenues of $192 billion. They believe that two or three layer-one blockchains will capture the majority of the market.
RWA
The most ambitious forecast pertains to the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA). Analysts estimate this market could exceed $11 trillion, while the current segment is valued at $19–22 billion. To reach these targets within the next five years, the sector would need to grow by approximately 50,000%.
Experts link these prospects to the migration of traditional financial instruments onto the blockchain. The main driver will be the establishment of clear regulations and institutional-level infrastructure.
Currently, sovereign debt instruments, particularly U.S. Treasury bonds, dominate the tokenization space. However, experts anticipate a shift in trend, with banking deposits and shares of global companies providing the primary market capitalization in the future.
“As a significant portion of global value remains off-chain, traditional assets represent the largest opportunity for blockchain technology adoption,” the company noted.
Even if the $11 trillion mark is reached, tokenized assets would still account for only about 1.38% of the total global financial market.
BlackRock is paying particular attention to this sector. In its 2026 forecast, the asset management firm highlighted that Ethereum could reap substantial benefits from tokenization, with around 65% of all such assets currently hosted on its network.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink emphasized that RWA represents a trillion-dollar market that is just beginning to develop.
Recall that in December, Wood stated that the mathematically capped supply of Bitcoin makes it a more perfect scarce asset than gold.