“In 2026, we’re going to cross the $1 trillion threshold in tokenised real-world assets, including stablecoins.” – Seun Lanlege

Prediction

We’re going to cross the $1 trillion threshold in tokenised real-world assets, including stablecoins.

Supporting Evidence

Institutional capital is increasingly recognising that tokenisation solves real problems: 24/7 settlement, fractional ownership, reduced intermediary costs, and global accessibility. Globally, we have seen BlackRock launch tokenised treasury products, and JPMorgan is settling real transactions on-chain, while Singapore and Switzerland have clear regulatory frameworks—RWAs aren’t experiments anymore.

It is not just a western development.  In September last year, the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), the umbrella body representing millions of farmers across Nigeria, signed an agreement to use blockchain to manage agricultural data, transactions, and plans to create blockchain tokens backed by agro commodities produced by Nigerian farmers. Crypto firms like Roqqu have tokenised gold. It is evident in other countries, even with state-backed efforts such as Uganda’s $5.5 billion tokenisation drive and continent-wide efforts by regulators to catch up with the technology.

Stablecoins will carry us a significant portion of the way there. We’re already seeing $150B+ in stablecoin market cap globally, but in Africa, stablecoins have become essential infrastructure. In Nigeria alone, despite the government’s restrictions, P2P stablecoin trading volume regularly exceeds official exchange volumes. People aren’t using USDT and USDC because they’re crypto enthusiasts but because currencies have quickly depreciated in recent years, and stablecoins are the most accessible store of value available.

Risk Factor

Regulatory clarity in African jurisdictions.

Who is Seun Lanlege?

Seun Lanlege is the founder of Polytope Labs, the developer of Hyperbridge, an interoperability protocol that enables blockchain networks to securely share data and assets. Hyperbridge supports major ecosystems, including Ethereum, Optimism, Arbitrum, Base, and BNB Chain, and has processed over $300 million in transactions across 14 networks.

A former core developer at Parity Technologies, Lanlege contributed to Parity Ethereum, Substrate, and Polkadot.