GENIUS Act’s Yield Ban Could Trigger Trillion-Dollar Shift to Tokenized Assets

The United States’ new GENIUS Act is poised to accelerate stablecoin adoption, but industry leaders warn that its prohibition on yield-bearing stablecoins could redirect massive amounts of capital toward tokenized real-world assets (RWAs).

Will Beeson, former Standard Chartered executive and now CEO of Uniform Labs, told Cointelegraph that the legislation’s yield ban will push institutions to seek compliant alternatives for earning returns on their digital dollar holdings.

“With yield-bearing stablecoins off the table, institutions need a compliant way to earn yield while staying liquid,” Beeson said, noting that capital is already shifting. “Institutional holders aren’t going to sit on idle, depreciating assets. They’ll demand yield and the infrastructure to access it compliantly.”

The GENIUS Act, signed into law under President Donald Trump, is widely viewed as a landmark in U.S. digital asset regulation. While it solidifies the role of dollar-backed stablecoins in both domestic and international markets, Beeson believes the real growth opportunity will be in tokenized assets such as U.S. Treasurys, money market funds, and eventually a broader range of instruments.

Tokenization as the Next Frontier

Beeson’s firm, Uniform Labs, is developing Multiliquid, an institutional liquidity platform that enables real-time, programmable conversions between tokenized assets and stablecoins. The open-architecture system is designed for compliant integration by issuers without the need for commercial agreements.

Although Beeson declined to name partners, he confirmed collaborations with “leading institutions, fintechs, and stablecoin issuers” ahead of Multiliquid’s planned launch later this year.

The tokenization trend has been gaining momentum, with 2025 seeing substantial growth in tokenized Treasury and money market funds. Data from RWA.xyz puts the total tokenization market at nearly $26 billion, with most activity so far concentrated in private credit and government bonds.

According to Beeson, that’s just the beginning. He expects the market to expand to corporate bonds, credit funds, commodities, equities, real estate, and private equity.

Leveling the Investment Playing Field

Sandra Waliczek, a blockchain and digital assets specialist at the World Economic Forum, argues that tokenization could democratize access to traditionally exclusive markets. “Tokenization changes this by enabling asset fractionalization, breaking assets into smaller, more affordable units,” she wrote, highlighting opportunities for investors previously locked out of high-value asset classes like real estate and private equity.

Aptos Labs’ Solomon Tesfaye echoed the sentiment, predicting that the GENIUS Act will drive growth for both stablecoins and tokenization.

As regulatory clarity strengthens stablecoins’ legitimacy, the prohibition on yield-bearing models may create a powerful incentive for institutions to channel liquidity into tokenized assets, potentially unleashing trillions of dollars into the sector.