Scandalous Wealth! How Tokenization Invites the Masses to the Private Market Ball 🤑✨

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What to know:

It is my honour (such as it is!) to address you, dear reader, with dispatches from the Crypto Long & Short weekly gazette. Only the most discerning of investors receive it—pray, secure your subscription if you have not the pleasure already, lest you risk being dreadfully out of fashion come Wednesday.

The world’s finest and most valuable enterprises do not, I regret to report, sway upon the public stage. Alas, their charms are reserved for the select few, ensconced deep in portfolios, guarded by capital thresholds of an impertinent scale and adorned with velvet ropes so thick, one requires either a dukedom or at the very least, a distant cousin who wields a vast endowment.

In our present era, entry into these private markets remains much as exclusive as an assembly at Pemberley. Minimum investments soar to $250,000 (or even a diversionary $25 million, for those inclined to dramatic effect), while venture capitalists seem to accept only those who present seven-figure calling cards with a flourish. As for “accredited” investors, most Americans are – how shall I put it? – unceremoniously turned away at the door.

But lo! There appears a crack in the facade. Scandal? No, merely progress!

Enter blockchain: a technology so modern, even Lady Catherine would pretend to understand it at tea for the sake of conversation. Imagine, if you will, a parallel financial universe—one that introduces wit, transparency, and—dare I say—genuine accessibility to a corner of society previously as murky as a drawing room during a power outage. The instrument of change? Tokenization. It is, without exaggeration, the financial equivalent of Mr. Darcy’s unexpected visit to the ball.

Tokenization is not simply the act of slapping a digital bonnet on existing assets. It remakes them entirely, transmuting portions of private enterprise (shares, private funds and the rest) into programmable tokens, equipped to enforce the rules of good society all on their own. Investors—both of means and mere moderate fortune—might at last obtain their little slice without sullying the price or reputation of the whole.

Picture the scene! You, sipping sherry, effortlessly acquiring a medley of high-growth enterprises through a single, delectable blockchain asset. No longer must one sit for seven years upon hope (or worse, ten) for some distant “exit” that never arrives. Secondary markets now allow us to trade, rebalance, and switch allegiances quicker than one might recover from the shock of an improper proposal.

Some of these tokens elect to be even more audacious, bestowing governance or performance-linked rewards. Others provide access to assets so rare, they make the prospect of dancing with a pre-IPO unicorn sound quite reasonable. It rather resembles those budget-friendly ETFs everyone raved about in the 1990s, only with an added dash of Regency flair and nary a chaperone in sight.

And what is more, the velvet rope is fraying. Smaller investors, distant cousins from the provinces and characters of no consequence may now sneak into rooms that previously barred even a glance. Silicon Valley’s waltz is joined by partners from across the globe—truly, the assembly is getting crowded.

As infrastructure improves—compliant issuance here, regulated markets there—we edge toward a world in which the privilege of private market riches transforms into nothing more than a line of code. Hard to believe, I know! And yet, it happens: tokenized funds, startup stakes, and even private debt instruments now change hands across platforms, the volume swelling to dizzying heights ($150 billion in 2024, for those keeping score). Still, all this constitutes a mere 1% of the $12 trillion “private market ballroom,” so there is dancing yet to come.


Of course, every new season introduces hazards: regulatory ambiguities, protection of gentlefolk investors, and the pesky business of education. Yet the tide is turning, and the prospect of a more open, all-embracing, and—dare I say—fortuitous financial society is positively irresistible.

In future, the finance ball shall not distinguish between public and private, digital or analog, nor concern itself with whether you are from Mayfair or Meryton. All shall mix freely in a system as interconnected as any fine web of social intrigue.

Tokenized private assets are not merely novelty. They are the calling cards for the next trillion-dollar assembly—no longer reserved for the nobility, but available to anyone courageous enough to RSVP “Yes” on-chain. 🎩🪙🕺

The gate is open. Do mind your step—these floors can get slippery.

(Editorial note: The opinions expressed herein are, as always, entirely my own and in no way to be blamed on CoinDesk, Inc. or its distinguished circle of owners and affiliates.)

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2025-06-25 18:35