Fragmentation across blockchain networks is already imposing tangible economic costs on tokenized asset markets, with inefficiencies holding back up to $1.3 billion in value annually.
RWA.io, a real world assets (RWA) data provider, argued in a report sent to Cointelegraph that while blockchain has accelerated innovation, it has also created walls that trap liquidity and prevent capital from moving freely between networks.
As a result, tokenized RWA increasingly behaves like a disconnected market rather than a single, unified financial system. The study found that while identical or economically equivalent assets are routinely traded at different prices across chains, moving capital between networks remains costly and complex.
The researchers said these inefficiencies hinder the market's ability to self-correct through arbitrage, a mechanism that facilitates efficient price discovery.
“This fragmentation is the biggest impediment to the market realizing its multi-trillion dollar potential,” said Marco Vidri, co-founder and chief operating officer of RWA.io.
“In traditional finance, the EU-wide SEPA instant mandate shows how value can move between accounts in seconds. Tokenized assets should be similarly low-friction,” Vidrih added.
RWA Market Growth from 2020 to 2025. Source: RWA.io
Price inefficiencies and interchain capital friction
The report states that one of the most obvious consequences of fragmentation is the continued divergence in prices of identical assets issued on different blockchains.
According to the report, economically identical tokenized assets often trade at spreads of 1% to 3% across major networks, despite representing claims against the same underlying asset. In traditional finance, arbitrage quickly closes such market gaps.
However, cross-chain arbitrage remains unfeasible due to technical hurdles, fees, delays, and operational risks, the report claims. It says the cost of transferring assets often exceeds the price difference, and inefficiencies can persist.
Beyond price discovery, RWA.io estimates that moving funds between non-interoperable chains results in losses of 2% to 5% per transaction. This is because of exchange fees, slippage, transfer costs, gas fees, and timing risks. Overall, the report models an average loss of approximately 3.5% per capital reallocation.
If this fragmentation pattern continues, RWA.io estimates that friction costs could drain the market by $600 million and $1.3 billion annually.
Economic costs of market segmentation. sauce: RWA.io
RWA.io predicts that tokenized real-world assets could grow to a $16 trillion to $30 trillion market by 2030, and warns that if current inefficiencies continue, the associated value decline will grow with it.
Applying the frictions associated with today's fragmentation to a market of that size could result in annual losses of $30 billion to $75 billion, turning infrastructure deficiencies into a significant constraint to long-term growth.
Related: Tokenized stocks may be on-chain, but SEC still demands keys
Despite inefficiencies, tokenized assets gain momentum
Despite claims of inefficiency, tokenized assets continue to gain traction on both crypto-native platforms and traditional financial institutions. Just this week, companies moved to tokenize their stocks.
On Tuesday, RWA-focused company Securitize announced plans to launch compliant on-chain stock trading.
On Thursday, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase launched a stock trading feature, allowing users to invest in stocks directly through the application.
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