CZ urges tokenizing everything as BNB Chain RWA holders jump 370%

Changpeng Zhao wants governments to sell tokenized shares to investors worldwide — and BNB Chain's real-world asset holders just jumped 370%.

BNB Chain's real-world asset holders jumped 370% to 776,000 in 30 days as founder Changpeng Zhao urged countries to "tokenize everything."

"Tokenization is one of the best ways for countries to 'raise money,' or attract FDI (Foreign Direct Investment)," Zhao wrote in an Aug. 21 X post. "Which country/company won't want to sell their (tokenized) stocks to everyone in the world?"

RWA.xyz recorded 776,428 RWA holders on BNB Chain as of Aug. 19, up 368.51% over 30 days, with $5.8 billion in distributed asset value across 1,284 assets. Across the broader tokenized market, distributed value reached $38.40 billion, up 2.26% over the same period, while the holder count rose 79.74% to 2,379,918, per RWA.xyz.

Zhao's endorsement positions tokenization as a capital-raising tool for sovereigns, but whether token sales qualify as foreign direct investment depends on ownership thresholds — the OECD defines FDI as a lasting interest of at least 10% of voting power — and on securities laws that the U.S. SEC said in January still apply to tokenized stocks.

Tokenization does not automatically create FDI

Tokenization converts ownership rights or economic claims into blockchain-based units. Governments and companies can apply the model to shares, bonds, funds, commodities, property or other assets. A token can broaden distribution by making an asset accessible through digital platforms, but access does not guarantee new investment, liquidity or legal recognition across borders. Issuers must still address securities laws, custody, investor verification, disclosures and ownership rights.

Smaller purchases of tokenized shares may instead qualify as portfolio investment. Whether a token sale counts as FDI therefore depends on the investor's residence, voting rights, ownership level and relationship with the issuing company.

Multi-chain growth vs fragmented liquidity

Zhao said issuing assets on multiple networks would allow more teams to develop tokenization infrastructure simultaneously. He acknowledged this approach would divide trading activity and capital between separate markets. Liquidity fragmentation can produce different prices, wider spreads and shallower order books for representations of the same asset. Bridges and separate issuers can also introduce technical, custody and counterparty risks.

Zhao said high interchangeability between issuers could address some of that fragmentation, requiring consistent redemption rights, backing arrangements, settlement processes and legal claims. He did not propose a specific technical standard. Clearstream, DTCC and Euroclear warned in a joint paper with Boston Consulting Group that separate distributed-ledger networks could leave assets trapped in isolated liquidity pools while raising operating costs.

Existing projects are already expanding tokenized securities across several networks. Ondo developed infrastructure that moves tokenized stocks between supported blockchain markets while maintaining backing for transferred assets. Tokenized U.S. stocks were also extended into Hyperliquid's HyperEVM, showing how issuers seek liquidity across multiple ecosystems.

BNB Chain's growth includes institutional products. The network secured 61.7% of assets on Franklin Templeton's Benji platform, representing about $1.5 billion at the time. BNB traded at $684.19 as of Aug. 21, up 6.4% in 24 hours, per crypto.news data, while whale investors increased BNB exposure by 13% and smart money scaled back. Zhao did not announce a product, regulatory application or launch deadline. The next developments depend on issuers, governments and regulators establishing structures that define ownership, transfers, disclosures and cross-border investor access.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.