The Rollup · Nov 8, 2026 · 16m · 9m saved
With John D'Agostino, Head of Strategy at Coinbase Institutional
Roughly 33 issuers have so far declined requests to tokenize their securities. John D'Agostino, head of strategy at Coinbase Institutional, told The Rollup at a Chainlink event in New York that the refusals are a waiting game, not resistance.
Much of the industry is still looking for the one event that will push traditional finance onchain. John says no such catalyst is needed, because the shift is already underway.
"The two big messages I try to deliver is it's not coming, it's here." — John D'Agostino
John was head of strategy at NYMEX when the exchange moved from open-outcry floor trading to electronic trading, and he now runs strategy for the institutional side of the largest US crypto exchange.
The full interview is covered here so you can skip it. 16 minutes of audio, 7 minutes of reading.
Here are the 7 calls that matter.
Key Takeaways
Tokenization needs no single big catalyst: small catalysts arrive every day, such as ICE's investment in Tradeweb
Issuers declining tokenization requests are waiting for liquidity, the same pattern John saw at NYMEX
Round-the-clock trading is the on-ramp that brings non-US money onchain
A Friday-afternoon shock should not mean waiting until Monday to hedge crude oil
John's main frustration: non-US customers can get products US citizens cannot
Permissionless chains such as Base should win in the long run, but institutions will use permissioned rails first
Community banks are losing deposits to the biggest banks and fintechs, not to Coinbase
His 84-year-old mother left her bank of 30 years for a G-SIB over branch hours
1. Small Catalysts Every Day
John dismissed the search for one event that tips finance onto blockchains. A healthy transition does not work that way, in his view.
John D'Agostino says tokenization is moving on a run of small, daily catalysts
"Blockchain and crypto does not require a massive catalyst cuz what we're seeing every day, if you pay attention, are what I call micro catalysts." — John D'Agostino
His example was that day's news of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) investing in Tradeweb, the bond and derivatives trading platform. He compared the shift to NYMEX's move from open outcry to electronic trading, where the direction was settled long before the move was finished.
"The only thing separating where we are from where we're going to be is time." — John D'Agostino
