Wendy O, a popular crypto market commentator, is pushing back on the latest wave of Wall Street enthusiasm for tokenization, arguing that none of it matters for ordinary investors as long as U.S. accredited investor rules stay in place.
In a recent video, Wendy O reacts to the New York Stock Exchange’s newly announced push to tokenize assets “24/7” and frames it against bullish comments from Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and BlackRock’s Larry Fink.
Sponsored
The core claim: tokenization may overhaul financial plumbing, but it doesn’t fix the structural barrier that decides who gets access to the best investment products.
Tokenization Hype vs. Accredited Investor Reality
The video centers on an interview clip where Armstrong welcomes the NYSE’s move into tokenized equities, calling it another sign that “crypto is updating the financial system” and insisting that, with clear rules, “customers win with competition.”
The host challenges that optimism.
She quickly points out that while Armstrong talks about efficiency and equal opportunity, he “doesn’t mention retail,” and that’s where the accredited investor definition bites. Under current U.S. rules, people below income or net-worth thresholds are routinely barred from certain private markets and structured products.
“You can tokenize everything,” Wendy O concludes, “but at the end of the day, you’re still gonna have those regulations… You don’t get access to this product or service.”
BlackRock’s Vision, Same Question: Who Benefits?
Larry Fink’s long-running thesis also shows up in the critique. The BlackRock CEO has repeatedly said tokenization could transform finance by making assets more accessible, liquid and efficient. The video doesn’t dispute that logic—but it questions for whom those gains accrue.
According to the analyst, large institutions are motivated less by democratization than by margins: cutting out intermediaries, lowering operational costs, and “improving their bottom line.” If accredited investor rules remain untouched, tokenization mostly helps incumbents distribute a new class of instruments to the same high-net-worth and institutional clients.
Both Armstrong and Fink are praised for at least recognizing that current markets overwhelmingly benefit the rich—Armstrong recently wrote that “most people are unable to or priced out of participating in the best of financial markets.” But the video notes that neither figure is publicly pushing to overhaul the accredited investor regime itself.
For crypto investors, the takeaway is blunt: infrastructure is evolving fast, and tokenized markets are coming, likely led by giants like NYSE, Coinbase and BlackRock. Whether that shift genuinely opens doors for retail—or simply repackages elite access on a blockchain—will depend less on technology and more on how securities laws are rewritten.
People Also Ask:
No. Even if assets are on-chain, securities laws can still restrict who’s allowed to buy them.
Only investors above certain income or net-worth levels can access many private and higher-risk offerings, which are likely candidates for early tokenization.
Not according to this video. The market analyst notes that Armstrong and Fink highlight inequality but stop short of proposing regulatory reform.
