At Consensus Miami 2026, Joseph Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum and CEO of Consensys, stated that the world is entering a phase where nearly all economic activity will be tokenized. According to him, tokenization is no longer merely experimental, but is becoming a clear direction for the evolution of the global financial system.
In general, tokenization refers to the process of converting assets or data into digital tokens within a blockchain system. In a broader context, tokenization is not limited to protecting sensitive information such as credit card numbers or personal identities, but also includes the representation of financial assets such as stablecoins, bonds, and real-world assets (RWA) in digital form that can be traded on-chain.
Today, tokenization is already being applied across various sectors, including digital payments, API-based integrations, and biometric technologies. Over time, the global economy has gradually begun shifting toward on-chain systems, where transactions and asset ownership are recorded directly on blockchain networks.
Consensys, founded in 2014 by Lubin, plays a key role in developing infrastructure, developer tools, and decentralized applications (dApps), particularly within the Ethereum ecosystem. Lubin explained that the evolution of the crypto industry began with Bitcoin as the first decentralized digital asset, and has since progressed to Ethereum, which allows anyone to create tokens without building a separate blockchain.
Cited from CoinDesk, according to Joseph Lubin, the technology has now reached a level of maturity that is attracting traditional financial institutions and regulators. This is supported by Ethereum’s reliability, security, and scalability, which continue to improve. At the same time, tokenization has expanded beyond stablecoins into more complex financial instruments such as bonds and various real-world assets.
Lubin also highlighted that technological advancements such as layer-2 solutions help increase transaction capacity on the Ethereum network, while innovations like composability enable different blockchain systems to interact within a unified framework. This opens up opportunities for a more efficient and integrated financial ecosystem.
He further described ETH as a “trust commodity,” an asset that plays a crucial role in securing and facilitating transactions within the network. As more economic activity moves on-chain, this role could strengthen ETH’s long-term value.
However, Lubin acknowledged that the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector still faces several challenges, including technical disruptions and security risks. Nevertheless, he believes these issues are part of the natural development process. With ongoing collaboration across the industry, the blockchain ecosystem is expected to become more robust and better prepared to support the future transformation of the global economy.
