Tokenization Liquidity Gap and Stablecoin Adoption Take Center Stage at Cointelegraph CONNECT Singapore

Panelists at Cointelegraph's CONNECT Singapore event on October 9 highlighted a growing imbalance between the supply of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) and actual investor demand, warning that fragmented liquidity remains the sector's biggest hurdle. Alex Taaffe, chief revenue officer at crypto trading firm GSR, noted that while tokenization is unlocking access to pre-IPO stocks, commodities, and global equities, asset issuers are racing to bring products onchain faster than buyers can absorb them.

Lingling Jiang, partner at DWF Labs, echoed the concern, pointing out that multiple issuers tokenizing the same underlying asset often create separate, competing liquidity pools. Both speakers agreed that fragmentation across chains and issuers continues to undermine efficient price discovery, even as overall crypto market liquidity has matured significantly over the past several years.

On the payments side, the "Stablecoins at the Point of Sale" panel focused on bridging the gap between blockchain infrastructure and everyday consumer use. Mike Silagadze, founder and CEO of ether.fi, argued that stablecoins have already proven their value for cross-border transfers, but mainstream adoption hinges on whether users can spend them at retailers and on routine bills. Yvonne Chia, head of communications at USDD, reinforced the point using Singapore as a case study, where residents holding USDC still need to convert to local currency for everyday expenses. The discussion underscored that the next wave of stablecoin growth will depend less on technology and more on payment integrations, card networks, and wallet accessibility that make digital dollars feel as seamless as cash.