Assetization—the process of transforming diverse assets and strategies into investable products—is unfolding in three distinct waves, each building upon the last and expanding the universe of investment possibilities. Understanding these waves helps financial institutions navigate the evolving landscape and position themselves for future opportunities.
Wave 1: Traditional Alternative Assets
The first wave of assetization focused on making traditional alternative assets—real estate, private equity, infrastructure—accessible to a broader investor base through structured products. This wave digitized existing investment strategies and made them available through certificates and notes that could be distributed via established financial channels.
Banks and asset managers leveraged this wave to democratize access to asset classes that were previously limited to ultra-high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors. Success in this wave required robust compliance infrastructure and strong issuer relationships.
Wave 2: Digital and Crypto Assets
The second wave brought digital assets into the fold, enabling institutions to offer exposure to cryptocurrencies, DeFi protocols, and tokenized assets through compliant investment vehicles. This wave required significant technological advancement, particularly in areas like custody, exchange integration, and real-time pricing.
Carpfield has been a leader in this wave, providing the infrastructure for banks to create Bitcoin, Ethereum, and multi-asset crypto products without needing to build proprietary technology. This wave is still accelerating as regulatory clarity improves and institutional adoption grows.
Wave 3: Synthetic and AI-Driven Strategies
The third wave, now emerging, focuses on completely synthetic and AI-driven investment strategies. Rather than wrapping existing assets, this wave creates entirely new products based on algorithmic strategies, machine learning models, and complex derivatives. These products can offer exposure to abstract concepts like volatility, sentiment, or thematic baskets that don't correspond to traditional asset classes.
This wave represents the ultimate expression of assetization: the transformation of ideas and algorithms into investable products. It requires sophisticated technology platforms capable of real-time calculation, risk management, and compliance monitoring.