MEXC COO Warns Tokenization May Cause Structural Crisis

As real-world asset (RWA) tokenization gains momentum in 2025, MEXC Chief Operating Officer Tracy Jin warns that the rapid shift to digital finance may lead to a structural crisis. This crisis is not due to technological failure but because the decentralization promise is being left behind. Jin emphasizes that while many people discuss real estate, bonds, and raw materials, they often overlook the fact that tokenization goes beyond simply digitalizing the existing system; it fundamentally changes the asset management model itself.

Jin's comments come amid a wave of announcements from global institutions. In the first half of 2025 alone, BlackRock expanded its tokenized fund strategy, JPMorgan reported over $700 billion moved via its Onyx blockchain, and Citigroup introduced Citi Token Services, converting institutional assets into on-chain instruments. However, Jin sees warning signs in these developments. She predicts that soon, there may be no stocks, commodities, derivatives, real estate, or other major assets left on the markets that are not tokenized or backed by a technology that provides digital offerings of that asset. The global economy will gradually transition toward a blockchain-based system where assets exist primarily as digital representations.

While blockchain is often associated with transparency and disintermediation, most of the tokenization infrastructure being developed today remains permissioned, centralized, and opaque. Governments and banks are deploying controlled environments, such as private chains or restricted smart contracts, to manage token issuance, circulation, and compliance. Jin argues that if state digital assets are fully controlled by central banks, tokenization technology will merely create a digital version of the current financial system, offering no significant advancements in decentralization.

Despite growing investor interest, trading volumes on tokenized platforms remain low. Jin warns that this mismatch could result in the first major tokenization crisis. She notes that currently, cryptocurrency market participants remain the main investors in tokenized assets, but the market liquidity is still not large enough to support a significant volume of RWA transactions. Jin is not against tokenization; she sees it as a necessary evolution of financial infrastructure if done right. She concludes that if digital government assets begin to interact with open blockchains and smart contracts, we could see a fundamental shift in the core of the financial infrastructure of many nations.

As the world races toward a tokenized future, voices like Jin’s serve as a reminder that blockchain innovation isn’t just about moving assets on-chain—it’s about rethinking who controls them once they get there.