Nathan Allman, CEO of Ondo Finance, believes the tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market is on the verge of explosive growth — and traditional finance is finally taking notice.
In a conversation with Scott Melker on TheStreet Roundtable , Allman confirmed Ondo's total value locked (TVL) sits at around $1 billion. That puts it in the same league as tokenized funds from major players like Franklin Templeton and BlackRock . But Allman sees this as just the beginning.
Ondo Finance is a blockchain-based platform focused on tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs) like U.S. Treasuries and corporate bonds. It aims to bridge traditional finance and DeFi by offering institutional-grade investment products on-chain.
"I think there's a decent chance that we get to 50, 75, [or] $100 billion this year as an industry," he said, referring to the broader RWA sector.
He pointed to stablecoins — which have a current market cap of around $200 billion — as a signal that traditional finance is already paying attention. "Certainly stablecoins at $200 billion are more than material enough for traditional finance to be paying serious attention to," Allman added.
The real prize, though, is mainstream adoption of decentralized finance (DeFi) — and not just for crypto speculation.
"We've talked for many years as an industry about how decentralized finance can make trading [and] lending more complicated financial instruments… more cheaply and easily available to retail investors all around the world," Allman said.
Until now, most DeFi activity has remained stuck in a loop, he noted. It's primarily fueled more speculation on Layer 1 tokens and DeFi infrastructure projects.
But that's changing.
Allman says DeFi is finally reaching a level of maturity — both in terms of infrastructure and its connection to real-world assets — that could help "modernize the traditional financial system that touches actual equities and everyday lives."
Looking ahead, he sees DeFi and traditional finance merging into something more universal: "What will eventually just look like modern finance."
