Academia and Industry Combine Insights in Cornell Convenes Discussion on Tokenization of Real-World Assets

ITHACA, N.Y., Feb. 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Fintech at Cornell, an Initiative of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, hosted its third annual Cornell Convenes roundtable in March of 2024, bringing industry and academia to the table for a three-hour discussion of the tokenization of real-world assets. The product of this discussion is the just-released Cornell Convenes: Tokenization of Real-World Assets Report, a cross-industry whitepaper reflecting nuanced opinions from the different participants' perspectives.

"In the past two years, the conversation around digital assets has heated up worldwide and expanded from cryptocurrencies and digital assets, to now the tokenization of real-world assets," said Susan Joseph, Executive Director of Fintech at Cornell. "While the sector is largely in its infancy, institutional interest is growing, and academia is paving the way for research with various studies on tokenizing real-world assets." Joseph went on to assert that industry and academia are united in the idea that tokenization may improve access to traditional assets, broaden access to previously illiquid assets, and create a 24/7 liquid market of these assets.

With this as the backdrop, Cornell Convenes: Tokenization of Real-World Assets, the third forum of its kind, hosted a conversation with around 30 professionals in the digital asset arena to promote cohesion among industry experts and academics. Chatham House Rule was observed to encourage open dialogue.

The Report serves as an informative summary of how each of the aforementioned parties can work together to take a positive step forward. The paper extracts and highlights opinions from these professionals on the tokenization of real-world assets, DeFi in the context of real-world assets and smart contracts, and disclosure, regulation, and tax.

Regulation was hotly debated. Strong opinions and educated suggestions emerged across the range of topics."This roundtable was an exciting and frank conversation among industry participants and academia experts, which was exactly what we had hoped for," reported Joseph. "But we should go further than a discussion, and encourage hands-on learning for industry, academia, and regulators so that regulators can create useful guardrails for these technologies and new products."

The group concluded that continued discussion is essential so that industry can help regulators navigate the changing landscape and scholars can deepen their understanding of how to proceed. "An open, thoughtful conversation like this where people from varying backgrounds talk to rather than at each other is invaluable and necessary," concluded Joseph.

Read the Cornell Convenes: Tokenization of Real-World Assets Report here.

Read "Toward a New Bretton Woods," Cornell Convenes Report on Stablecoins and CBDCs here.

Read the Cornell Convenes Report on Digital Assets here.

Learn more at the Fintech at Cornell website.

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Media Contact:
Sarah Magnus-Sharpe
sm2374@cornell.edu