Binance founder CZ says ‘tokenize everything’ to attract investors

On Aug. 21, 2026, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) posted on X that countries should “tokenize everything” to raise capital and attract foreign direct investment by offering digital representations of assets to global investors, according to crypto_news_dot. He also backed issuing tokenized assets across every blockchain rather than picking a single network, acknowledging this would fragment liquidity but arguing parallel development is the fastest way to grow the sector. The post was a policy and industry view, not a formal initiative from Binance, BNB Chain or any government, and CZ named no countries or timeline. The comments followed a BNB Chain statement that the network reached roughly 776,000 tokenized real-world-asset holders, up about 370% over 30 days.

Background

Tokenization converts ownership rights or economic claims into blockchain-based units, and governments and companies can apply the model to shares, bonds, funds, commodities, property or other assets, per crypto_news_dot. A token can broaden distribution by making an asset accessible through digital platforms, but access does not guarantee new investment, liquidity or legal recognition across borders; issuers must still address securities laws, custody, investor verification, disclosures and ownership rights. CZ described tokenization as one of the best methods for attracting foreign direct investment. Under the OECD’s formal definition, FDI generally involves a foreign investor establishing a lasting interest and owning at least 10% of an enterprise’s voting power, so smaller purchases of tokenized shares may instead qualify as portfolio investment. Whether a token sale counts as FDI depends on the investor’s residence, voting rights, ownership level and relationship with the issuing company. Existing projects are already expanding tokenized securities across several networks: Ondo developed infrastructure that moves tokenized stocks between supported blockchain markets while maintaining backing for transferred assets, and tokenized U.S. stocks were extended into Hyperliquid’s blockchain trading environment. The source also notes that tokenized shares would remain subject to the laws governing their underlying securities, and that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in a January statement that stocks, bonds and other securiti—the source text is truncated at that point.

What happened

According to crypto_news_dot, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao said on Aug. 21 that countries could use tokenization to raise capital and attract foreign direct investment by offering digital representations of assets to global investors. “Let’s tokenize everything,” CZ wrote in an X post. He argued that countries and companies have an incentive to sell tokenized shares to investors worldwide. CZ also backed issuing tokenized assets across every blockchain rather than selecting a single network. He acknowledged that this approach would create fragmented liquidity but said parallel development would be the fastest way to expand the sector. The source states his comments represented a policy and industry view, not a formal investment initiative from Binance, BNB Chain or any government, and that CZ did not identify countries preparing tokenized share offerings or provide a timeline for their launch. CZ said issuing assets on multiple networks would allow more teams to develop tokenization infrastructure simultaneously; this could increase distribution but divide trading activity and capital between separate markets. Liquidity fragmentation can produce different prices, wider spreads and shallower order books for representations of the same asset, and bridges and separate issuers can introduce technical, custody and counterparty risks. CZ said high interchangeability between issuers could address some of that fragmentation, but such compatibility would require consistent redemption rights, backing arrangements, settlement processes and legal claims, and he did not propose a specific technical standard. The source adds that CZ’s comments followed a BNB Chain statement that the network had reached approximately 776,000 holders of tokenized real world assets, up about 370% over 30 days.

Market impact

The only figures in the source are tied to BNB Chain’s tokenized real-world-asset activity. BNB Chain stated the network reached approximately 776,000 holders of tokenized real world assets, up about 370% over 30 days. RWA.xyz data recorded 776,428 RWA holders as of Aug. 19, an increase of 368.51% over the preceding 30 days; the platform listed $5.8 billion in distributed asset value and 1,284 assets. The source cautions that these figures include categories selected by the data provider and should not be treated as proof of foreign investment or demand for tokenized national assets, and that a blockchain address does not necessarily represent one individual investor. BNB Chain’s recent growth includes institutional products: as crypto.news previously reported, the network secured 61.7% of assets on Franklin Templeton’s Benji platform, representing about $1.5 billion at the time. The source provides no price, trading-volume or flow figures for any token, and no market reaction to CZ’s post is described. It also does not quantify the liquidity fragmentation CZ acknowledged, nor the potential FDI that tokenized shares might attract.

Why it matters

The source frames CZ’s post as a policy and industry view rather than a formal initiative, so its significance lies in the debate it opens rather than in any announced program. CZ argued that countries and companies have an incentive to sell tokenized shares to investors worldwide, and described tokenization as one of the best methods for attracting foreign direct investment. The source, however, notes that under the OECD’s formal definition FDI generally involves a lasting interest and at least 10% of an enterprise’s voting power, so smaller purchases of tokenized shares may instead qualify as portfolio investment; whether a token sale counts as FDI depends on the investor’s residence, voting rights, ownership level and relationship with the issuing company. Access alone does not guarantee new investment, liquidity or legal recognition across borders, and issuers must still address securities laws, custody, investor verification, disclosures and ownership rights. CZ’s multi-chain stance could increase distribution but divide trading activity and capital, producing different prices, wider spreads and shallower order books for the same asset, while bridges and separate issuers add technical, custody and counterparty risks. The source also notes tokenized shares would remain subject to the laws governing their underlying securities, citing a January SEC statement that stocks, bonds and other securiti—the text is truncated.