How do you view the current state of the Web 3.0 field?
Tatsuya Saito (hereinafter, Saito): At the beginning of 2024, I predicted that "this will be a year in which the boundaries between finance and tokens will melt and integration will progress." Now that more than half of 2024 has passed, I see "progress as mixed."
As a premise, the perspectives are different between "crypto assets," whose source of value is "data itself," and "RWA tokens," whose source of value is "RWA (real assets)," and whose data is merely a representation of value. For "RWA tokens," the key is legal reorganization/scheme construction on the real world side and the credibility of RWA administrators. Tokenization of assets that generate cash flow is "ST (Security Token)," and tokenization of legal currency is "SC (Stable Coin)," but due to regulations, the issuers/intermediaries of each require licenses, and financial institutions inevitably play an important role.
Based on that, I will summarize some of my expectations at the beginning of the year and the progress so far. First, "several domestic SC projects will be launched/distributed." The registration of licenses for "SC intermediaries" has been delayed from the beginning, and domestic distribution will begin in the fall at the earliest, and realistically, it will be at the very end of the year.
Second, "The secondary market for ST will be fully operational, and the sophistication of the settlement system using SC will be seriously considered." Trading near NAV (net asset value), which is thought to be the starting point for liquidation needs, has been steady. Rather than the settlement system, various measures to increase the variety/number of stocks handled will be prioritized.
Finally, "The ST market size will reach 255 to 355 billion yen." The market size is steadily growing, centered on real estate ST for individual investors. On the other hand, overseas, the balance of ST backed by U.S. Treasury bonds as an "on-chain MMF (Money Market Fund) alternative" has increased significantly, and although it cannot be reproduced as it is in Japan, where the interest rate environment and the on-chain trading attitude of institutional investors are different, we hope that the composition of products that stimulate new demand will progress.
