Highlighting American innovation in tokenization, payments, and UGC token use cases
By Abdul Al-Ali, Web3 Venture Investor, Decasonic
In our previous two posts, we explored increasingly durable applications of blockchain tokens and highlighted use cases pivotal to thriving ecosystems and reshaping existing traditional infrastructure. We also delved into Asia's vibrant web3 ecosystem, focusing on token use cases and ecosystems gaining adoption in the region.
We are observing a clear shift in the evolving landscape, with both mainstream adopters (retail) and investors converging at the intersection of token-driven applications. There is growing demand for durable, sustainable tokens driven by genuine utility and designed for long-term value creation. Tokens are increasingly recognized as the driving force behind ecosystems, protocols, applications, and platforms—serving as the essential central nervous system that powers interactions and functionality. The spotlight is shifting toward sustainable value accrual, prioritizing long-term viability over short-term price fluctuations and speculation. Friend.tech's cautionary tale serves as a reminder that sustainability must triumph over speculation, as a lack of clear value proposition can lead to ecosystem-wide repercussions.
The US, leveraging its robust financial and tech ecosystems, is emerging as a powerhouse for blockchain adoption and innovative token use cases that transcend speculative interests. As we usher in the next wave of token adoption and strive toward making tokens great again through a focus on durability, we at Decasonic are monitoring three key areas in the US: Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization, User-Generated Content (UGC) in gaming and the creator ecosystems, and next-generation payment solutions. These use cases are driving innovation by democratizing fractional ownership, decentralizing content creation, and bringing seamless financial transactions to a mainstream audience.
At Decasonic, we are focused on identifying and co-building durable token use cases with an emphasis on value accrual and sustainability. We increasingly believe token innovations offer a 10x improvement over traditional systems in key areas. This article delves deeper into the US's growing influence at the intersection of these three areas.
America’s Favorite Blockchains
The introduction and approval of the Spot Bitcoin ETF in January of this year marked a turning point for institutional adoption, with BlackRock’s IBIT attracting more than $3B in inflows during its first month. This surge in institutional interest is accelerating retail adoption—21% of non-crypto owners in the US believe that the approval of Bitcoin ETFs could lead them to invest in crypto, potentially bringing 29 million new investors into the market.
Token2049 and Solana’s Breakpoint event in Singapore drew significant interest from both institutional investors and retail participants, with Franklin Templeton announcing the launch of their mutual fund on Solana. Other institutional investors and payment platforms followed suit, including PayPal and Visa, delivering keynotes on the efficiency of stablecoin money transfers on Solana compared to Ethereum. The event also featured a gaming-focused booth, attracting native builders like Star Atlas and Aurory. Increasingly, we believe Solana is capturing institutional interest and positioning itself as a leader in DeFi, RWA, and Payments.
Base, an L2 developed by Coinbase and built on the Optimism L2 stack, is gaining traction in DeFi, Gaming, and Social. The previously mentioned project, friend.tech, initially set out to build on top of Base. Base has emerged as the blockchain of choice for leading web3 games such as Parallel TCG, Super Champs, and Applied Primates amongst others.
At Decasonic, we see Bitcoin, Solana, and Base increasingly becoming three of America’s favorite chains—capturing mainstream and institutional interest alike.
1. Tokenization of Real-World Assets (RWAs) & DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure)
The US is leading the charge in Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization, revolutionizing the way ownership rights of physical and financial assets are represented as tokens. This shift enables fractional ownership and facilitates the trading of traditionally illiquid assets, reducing entry barriers for retail investors while boosting overall market liquidity. Institutions are leveraging tokenization to tokenize financial instruments and real estate, while retail-focused efforts center on collectibles and consumables. At the intersection of both retail and institutional tokenization lies DePIN, bridging these worlds by offering decentralized physical infrastructure networks.
Tokenizing Financial Instruments
The market for tokenization of financial instruments is projected to reach $2T by 2030, with the current on-chain value of tokenized RWAs globally standing at $12B. A significant catalyst for RWA tokenization and financial instruments was the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024. Following this, in March 2024, BlackRock and other leading financial institutions launched on-chain tokenized funds. BlackRock’s $BUIDL, an Ethereum-based fund offering exposure to cash, T-bills, and repurchase agreements, recently surpassed a market cap of $522M—underscoring the growing institutional interest in the tokenization of commodities and financial instruments.
Hamilton Lane’s Secondary Fund VI, which raised $5.6B in August 2024, enables fractional investments, lowering the entry threshold for a broader pool of investors and democratizing access to previously inaccessible financial instruments.
We view tokenization as a pivotal area of institutional focus within the on-chain economy, with RWAs paving the way for further institutional adoption. The tokenization of financial instruments presents vast opportunities to disrupt traditional systems, offering flexibility, 24/7 transferability and trading, and providing a global, decentralized reach for tokenized assets.
Retail-Focused Tokenization
Tokenizing Art and Collectibles
Platforms like Artrade on Solana are bringing art to the masses through tokenization. By enabling fractional ownership of high-value artwork, these platforms provide opportunities for portfolio diversification and liquidity in markets that were previously inaccessible.
At Decasonic, we are increasingly optimistic about the future of collectible tokenization. Whether it's watches or baseball cards, blockchain simplifies and democratizes access to these assets. Platforms like Courtyard offer tokenized collectibles, such as baseball cards, reducing the complexities of storage, enhancing tradability, and allowing collectors to securely vault their assets with the platform. The potential applications of tokenization continue to expand, offering vast new opportunities.
Tokenizing Consumables
A key highlight of Solana’s Breakpoint event in Singapore was dVinLab’s announcement of their plan to bring the $1 trillion wine asset class on-chain. dVin launched their $VIN token, representing 3,000 bottles of ‘rare champagne.’ Existing platforms like Baxus, built on Solana, are creating marketplaces for tokenized bottles of wine, allowing collectors to authenticate and secure their collections through the transparent blockchain ledger.
DePIN
At the intersection of retail and institutional tokenization lies DePIN, where platforms like Nosana, Helium, and HiveMapper are transforming the relationship between people and hardware. Nosana enables users and institutions to provide startups with access to computing power for training their LLMs, while Helium and HiveMapper allow users to earn tokens by sharing their hardware for mapping and network purposes.
The opportunities for tokenization are immense and we believe remain largely untapped. Blockchain's seamless transfer and transparent ledger capabilities revolutionizes markets, secures ownership, and unlocks use cases previously deemed impractical. Tokenization brings the promise of 24/7 trading for a wide range of assets, fundamentally reshaping the way owners interact with and manage their assets.
2. UGC Gaming and the Creator Economy
The US has long been a leader in intellectual property (IP) development, and blockchain is now supercharging the growth of the creator economy. As user-generated content (UGC) continues to dominate gaming, the integration of blockchain and Web3 technology is transforming how gamers and creators monetize their work. This shift is opening up new ownership opportunities while decentralizing content creation, further empowering creators.
UGC in Gaming
US-based gaming studios are increasingly integrating user-generated content (UGC) into their blockchain games, empowering players to fully own, monetize, and personalize their assets and gaming experience. For studios, UGC integration has proven successful, with UGC-enabled personalization boosting engagement by 28% and increasing ad click-through rates.
UGC is having a transformative impact on gaming, particularly through the integration of AI. Players can now customize their gaming experience, from personalizing NPCs to creating unique in-game tokens, all shaped by individual actions and preferences.
Big Time, an Ethereum-based game developed by a team with experience at Epic and Decentraland, allows players to collect and customize NFTs that represent in-game items. UGC elements enable players to personalize their metaverse environments and interactions with both players and NPCs through SPACE NFTs. By 2024, Big Time crossed $100M in revenue, with players transacting a total of $230M on its marketplace. Another UGC-web3 game is Blankos Block Party, developed by LA-based Mythical Games, which lets players create and customize their own "Block Parties" — platformer-style games — while also enabling users to design and build their own levels and art. In August 2024, Blankos Block Party reached 47.41k active monthly users, enhancing the collaborative and creative gaming experience.
Shrapnel, a competitive Triple-A shooter on Avalanche, allows players to customize gameplay through modding tools, minting, and trading custom in-game assets as NFTs. Planet Mojo, which recently migrated to Base, also embraces UGC in its flagship game, GoGo Mojo, allowing players to customize character interactions and ecosystem gameplay.
From Big Time to Planet Mojo, US studios are increasingly leading the way in UGC integration within Web3 games, powered by AI. This shift is fostering vibrant ecosystems with enhanced gameplay and expanded use cases for tokens and NFTs.
UGC has a transformative impact on the gaming experience - enabling the integration and usage of AI to enable players to customize their gaming experience. Gaming NPCs could be personalized, in-game tokens could be unique, and it's all influenced by the player’s actions and preferences. The intersection of AI and blockchain in UCG games is transformative, with the opportunity for players to fully own in-game assets and monetize their experience. At Decasonic, We believe the future of gaming will be shaped at the intersection of Web3, AI, and UGC
The US Creator Economy and IP
In the IP and Creator Economy markets, platforms like Audius and Spaceport are enabling creators to take ownership of and monetize their intellectual property and creations.
Audius, a decentralized music streaming platform based in San Francisco, serves over 13.95M users, enabling artists to license music directly to fans without the need for intermediaries.
Spaceport, a Decasonic portfolio company, is accelerating the growth of the digital economy by equipping creators, brands, and agencies with tools to monetize their IP. The current $300B IP licensing market is slow, inefficient, and costly, but Spaceport is utilizing blockchain to streamline how IP is monetized and how licensing is traded. Recently, Spaceport partnered with Toei Animation—the studio behind One Piece and Dragonball—to license content from its next film to UGC gaming platforms like Roblox and Fortnite.
The disruption of IP licensing and the decentralization of music streaming are just two examples of how blockchain is transforming the creator economy. Looking ahead, we see blockchain playing an increasingly disruptive role in reducing intermediaries, enabling direct creator-to-consumer interactions, and allowing creators to not only monetize their work more efficiently but also build deeper, more meaningful connections with their audiences and communities.
3. Payments and the Rise of Stablecoins
Blockchain is playing a transformative role in the US payments sector, with stablecoins at the forefront. Platforms like Coinbase Commerce and BitPay enable merchants to accept cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, MATIC, USDC, and USDT for goods and services, creating new opportunities for seamless and instant transactions.
PayPal’s PYUSD and Payment Platforms
PayPal’s PYUSD, launched on Ethereum in August 2023 and expanded to Solana in May 2024, reached a $1B market cap by August of this year. Increasingly, platforms like PayPal and Venmo are incorporating crypto features such as ENS domains, signaling the mainstream adoption of blockchain within existing financial services.
CFX Labs, a Decasonic portfolio company, sits at the intersection of blockchain and payments, enabling seamless transfers between digital assets and global currencies. By supporting P2P and B2B2C payments through its API and leveraging Solana, CFX is enhancing the efficiency and scalability of the traditional payments ecosystem through blockchain.
Crypto Payments and Retail Adoption
As institutional adoption accelerates, we see crypto adoption gaining momentum among retail audiences. An estimated 44M Americans now own Bitcoin, and this growing interest is driving plans for retailers to accept crypto as a form of payment. A 2022 Deloitte survey revealed that 75% of US retailers plan to accept crypto by 2025. Major retailers like Ralph Lauren, AMC, Airbnb, Barnes & Noble, and Best Buy are already accepting crypto payments through platforms like BitPay.
We believe blockchain integration with existing e-commerce and payment platforms is increasingly inevitable. As adoption expands, companies like Venmo, Square, and CashApp are actively positioning themselves to integrate blockchain technology, making payments more inclusive, seamless, and accessible.
State-Backed Stablecoins
States like Wyoming are also exploring stablecoins, with the Wyoming Stable Token (WST) expected to launch in early 2025. This state-backed stablecoin will allow businesses and individuals to use WST for tax payments and public services. Other states, including Colorado and Louisiana, have announced similar plans to accept crypto for tax payments, signaling further stablecoin and crypto adoption in the public sector.
Conclusion
As blockchain continues to permeate sectors such as RWAs, UGC gaming, the creator economy, and payments, the US is solidifying its position as a leader in tokenization and decentralization. With the introduction of opportunities for fractional ownership, content monetization, and seamless transactions, blockchain is disrupting traditional systems. As regulatory clarity sharpens and institutional adoption gains momentum, the future of blockchain and tokenization in the US looks increasingly promising, fueling disruptive innovation across industries.
At Decasonic, we are committed to partnering with founders who are innovating at the intersection of blockchain, AI, and Web3. If you're building in this space, we’re here to support you on your journey towards greatness. Together, we can help transform your vision into reality, leveraging our expertise and network to accelerate your growth and build durable, lasting change.
The content of this material is strictly for informational and educational purposes and is not meant to constitute investment advice or a recommendation or a solicitation to buy or sell any asset or to make any financial decision. Nothing in these blog posts should be considered legal or tax advice. You should consult with your own professional advisor before making any financial decision. Decasonic offers no warranties on any content in the material posted in these blog posts, including that it is accurate, complete, or correct. The opinions expressed in these posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Decasonic. Decasonic is not liable for any errors or omissions in the content of this newsletter or for any actions taken based on the information provided herein.
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