Nikhil Joshi, Chief Operating Officer at EMURGO, has taken a bold stance on the growing tokenization trend in the digital asset space. The Cardano insider has cautioned against the blind tokenization of anything and everything, as it does not always enhance liquidity.
Cautious approach to RWA tokenization
Joshi’s position was prompted by a user’s post on X, seeking his key takeaways from the “Emerging RWA Opportunities in 2025” panel discussion.
Joshi stated that he supports a measured, use-case-driven approach to tokenization. He is bullish on tokenized private credits, for instance, as they offer major short-term opportunities in the industry. This is because private credit is generally opaque and illiquid.
1. Private credit is the big immediate opportunity.
2. Don’t suffer from tokenitis – not everything needs to be tokenised (yet).
3. Tokenising assets that “work” well on existing rails doesn’t bring automatic incremental value or liquidity, but will serve purpose as collateral.— Nikhil Joshi (@No3of3J) April 29, 2025
However, tokenization could make it more transparent, easy to trade and efficient. Joshi maintains that “private credit is the big immediate opportunity” in the real-world asset (RWA) tokenization sector.
However, the EMURGO COO has discouraged “tokenitis,” which is the idea of putting everything on a blockchain just because it is possible. Against the long-held myth, he noted that not all assets should benefit from tokenization.
According to him, teams should be strategic and not driven by speculation. To achieve this, the focus has to be on tokenization for real utility or problem solving, just like private credit.
RWA sector as catalyst for broader adoption
Joshi believes that tokenization does not necessarily need to enhance liquidity. It could help expand collateral options in blockchain-based finance, which could be useful in DeFi, enabling lending, staking or yield generation.
According to an earlier insight from U.Today, RWA can unlock global economic growth by bringing real-world value and regulatory compliance to blockchain technology.
Notably, RWAs can improve global access to investments and reduce fraud in the financial world. The application is not limited to cryptocurrency but could benefit traditional finance and attract users from both the crypto and noncrypto space.
Beyond Cardano, Ripple Labs is driving the tokenization agenda as it seeks to play a frontline role in this sector.
