Crypto Apps Poised to Capture Trillions in New Asset Markets

Crypto investors may be underestimating the next wave of growth in the industry, according to Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan. He pointed out that crypto apps are not just limited to serving the current cryptocurrency market but have the potential to capture a much larger asset market.

Hougan cited Uniswap as an example, which was initially built to facilitate trading between crypto assets but could expand significantly as traditional assets become tokenized. The global stock market is worth roughly $150 trillion, while the bond market stands at around $350 trillion.

Crypto-native companies may continue to outperform traditional financial institutions (TradFi) in the space, Hougan noted. He pointed to PayPal's stablecoin launch in 2023 as an example, which gained only a small share of the market despite its global brand and established customer base.

Hougan also expressed concern that investors may be using today's transaction volumes to estimate the future size of blockchain markets. He argued that tokenization could substantially increase transaction activity by allowing assets to trade continuously.