The elites at the World Economic Forum (WEF) are ready to launch a new stage of global finance. A model that relies on tokenized assets, programmable money, and blockchain settlement has been promoted by BlackRock CEO Larry Fink for years. As recently minted co-chairman of the forum, Fink declared in October, “We are at the beginning of the tokenization of all assets.”
This year at Davos, the idea moved to center stage. The annual meeting hosted three panels devoted entirely to the topic: “Is Tokenization the Future?” “Where Are We on Stablecoins?” and “New Era for Finance.” Together, they revealed a decisive shift in how digital assets are being repurposed. What began as a decentralized challenge to the financial system is now being folded back into it. Davos insiders framed tokenization and stablecoins not as disruptive experiments but as core infrastructure—a vision to redesign centralized finance by placing assets, money, and settlement on programmable digital rails governed by institutions already at the center of global power.
Cryptocurrency serves as the starting point, referring to digital money secured through cryptography rather than banks or governments. Bitcoin, the first and most famous example, enables direct value transfers without intermediaries. Blockchain technology underpins this process, functioning as a shared digital ledger that records transactions across multiple computers simultaneously. No single entity controls it outright, making alterations extremely difficult once data is added.
Stablecoins emerged as a response to cryptocurrency’s volatility, representing digital coins pegged to assets like the U.S. dollar. They combine blockchain’s speed and programmability with traditional money’s stability but often depend on centralized issuers and reserves within existing financial systems. Tokenization takes this further by converting real-world assets—stocks, bonds, real estate, commodities, infrastructure projects, and even U.S. sovereign debt—into digital tokens on a blockchain.
This trend extends beyond finance to include natural resources such as forests, water rights, minerals, and biodiversity. Carbon credits tied to rainforests, including the Amazon, already operate in early forms through tokenization. Ownership, settlement, and record-keeping are shifting onto programmable digital systems, aligning with the broader vision of a Fourth Industrial Revolution that seeks to fuse “physical, digital, and biological spheres.”
At Davos, panelists emphasized continuity rather than disruption. Euroclear CEO Valérie Urbain described tokenization as a natural evolution expanding access while lowering costs, noting it could “reach out to a bigger range of investors,” reduce time to market, and decrease issuance costs. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong highlighted how tokenization addresses structural inefficiencies in finance—particularly settlement speed, fees, and access barriers—and pointed to a global population of four billion adults lacking quality investment opportunities. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse reinforced stablecoins as tokenization’s first real-world success.
French central bank governor François Villeroy de Galhau stressed the need for regulation: “Regulation is not the enemy of innovation … it’s a guarantee of trust.” Unregulated private money, he warned, could threaten monetary sovereignty. Central banks must provide a “public anchor,” he argued.
Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance and known as CZ—recently pardoned by Donald Trump—appeared at Davos to discuss tokenization’s potential. He described it as “a huge one” and noted discussions with governments about organizing assets, stating that tokenized public assets could enable states to “realize financial gains first.” Zhao added that such models might improve financial system efficiency while spurring related industries and trading markets.
However, these developments raise concerns about equitable distribution of benefits. Tokenized public assets would require capital to purchase, potentially concentrating gains among the wealthy rather than the broader public. Looking ahead, Zhao outlined three frontiers: state-level asset tokenization; crypto operating as an invisible payment rail behind familiar cards and apps; and AI agents transacting autonomously using digital assets as native money.
In America, the Trump administration and Congress laid the groundwork for this “new era of finance.” President Donald Trump signed an executive order blocking federal agencies from issuing or promoting a central bank digital currency, framing it as a risk to privacy and individual freedom while encouraging blockchain technology under regulatory oversight. Congress passed the GENIUS Act, creating a federal framework for payment stablecoins backed by U.S. dollars and Treasuries, and advanced the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act to clarify digital asset regulation.
The largest stablecoin issuers in America include Circle, Tether, Paxos, and World Liberty Financial (WLFI), whose leadership includes President Donald Trump.