While stablecoins dominate the regulatory headlines and tokenization approaches institutional reality, the real work of bringing traditional assets on-chain is happening quietly in the background.
Vertalo founder and CEO Dave Hendricks has been building that infrastructure for years. Hendricks, a serial entrepreneur whose portfolio includes LiveIntent and CheetahMail, and experience at Oracle and Arthur Andersen, is leading Vertalo’s push to modernize transfer agencies and the large-scale tokenization of real-world assets.
In this Q&A, he cuts through the noise surrounding crypto policy, explains why stablecoins will take off in 2025, and outlines what it will take for tokenized securities and private wealth to reach the next stage.
When we first spoke in 2023, you gave your reaction to PayPal announcing a new stablecoin built on the Ethereum blockchain. Fast forward to this month, Visa launches an advisory regarding stablecoins. What do you think about how far we’ve come in terms of RWA, tokenized securities, stablecoins, etc.?
Hendrix: Obviously, we’ve come a long way since the beginning of 2023. Three years ago, stablecoin commentary was still rooted in the previous cycle’s usage model within DeFi borrowing/lending protocols, but now stablecoins have emerged as the most controversial issue in cryptocurrencies, especially in the wake of the Genius Act, which prohibits banks from paying interest on stablecoins.
RWA has come a long way, but it is still only a small part of the addressable market, with active activity in the shoulder categories, which I categorize as institutional (Treasury and privately licensed REPOs and other similar activities) and marginal (L1 issuing unbacked non-recourse tokens).
Institutional RWAs are leading the way, but most are privately licensed by the federal government and inaccessible to or invested in by the majority of RWA’s target market: RIAs and retail investors. While I would argue that most marginal RWAs are accessible to anyone who knows how to use a wallet, I don’t see these products as investable for anyone looking to protect their principal or secure a steady income.
While tokenized stocks are likely to be an even bigger story in 2026 (thanks to the SEC and the upcoming Transparency Act), the main story in 2025 is stablecoins, which thanks to Genius are the easiest way for large institutions (banks and non-banks) to enter the so-called cryptocurrency market. Banks are focused on deposits and payments, so it’s not really surprising that they would be attracted to stablecoins, but oddly enough, they now find themselves locked out of issuing high-yielding stablecoins. Ironic given that many believed the Genius Act was a gift to banks and their lobbyists.
Vertalo maintains a store of ETH to pay fees associated with creating a tokenized stock ledger on Ethereum. What has changed at your company over the past year?
Hendricks: As one of, if not the only software company focused on digital transfer agents and integrated tokenization, Vertalo continues to pursue a different approach to the market than the majority of so-called tokenization companies. Because Vertalo is not a broker-dealer and does not create investment products in-house solely for its clients, it has seen a large influx of inbound interest that does not want to do business with companies that might do business with them. Clients come to Vertalo with specific problems that cannot be solved by third-party websites or consulting firms. By working with us, our clients can be confident that as a software company, we are not eating up fees by taking BPS on every trade.
We haven’t wavered from this approach since we began our focus on enterprise software in mid-2022.
What current trends are you interested in for 2026?
Hendrix: The most interesting trend is the renewed interest in private equity tokenization and packaging. As a company primarily focused on turning illiquid investments into tradable, transferable (and fractional) instruments, we are pleased that the market is finally starting to see what we saw almost a decade ago. In short, distributed ledger technology is a revolutionary step-function improvement for asset and wealth management, especially the transfer and distribution of these new financial products.
The crypto-related announcements made by the White House this year — the federal Bitcoin reserve (which disappeared into thin air), the end of SEC oversight of cryptocurrencies, digital assets in 401(k)s — have nothing to do with the core mission of Bitcoin or other blockchain networks. Has this field lost its way?
Hendricks: Every few years, the “cryptocurrency” industry loses its collective consciousness for something new, everyone stops doing what they were doing, monkeys move in, the space gets crowded, some people get blamed, some names are called, people complain and get frustrated that things are different than when they started. This happens every cycle and this time is no exception. As the regime helps normalize normal operations, unstable players will continue to rise and fall. Nothing new!
