Month: July 2025

By Connor, Dylan, and Eva, Class of 2025 Summer Interns

In wealth management, we’ve always believed the most important innovations are those that
unlock access—better tools, broader opportunities, and ultimately, stronger financial outcomes.
Today, familiar platforms like Robinhood are pioneering just such a shift by enabling tokenized
ownership of private market equities.

While “tokenization” is most commonly associated with cryptocurrency, it actually refers to a
larger movement. This is a fundamental shift that could forever change how investors, both
accredited and retail, engage with private markets. And to appreciate where we’re going, it
helps to understand where we’ve been.

 

A Brief History: Public vs. Private Markets

Public markets have long been the backbone of individual investing. Since the Buttonwood
Agreement in 1792, where 24 brokers created the foundation for what became the New York
Stock Exchange. Public equities have offered transparency, regulation, and liquidity. This
framework allowed companies to raise capital from the general public, and in turn, offered
investors an accessible path to ownership in the American growth story.

But access came with trade-offs. Going public is expensive, time-consuming, and exposes
companies to intense regulatory scrutiny and short-term market pressure. In the 1980s and
’90s, being a public company was the gold standard. But over the last two decades, a shift
occurred: companies started staying private longer.

Here’s why that matters:

● In 1980, the average age of a company going public was 6 years. Today, it’s 12+ years.
● The number of publicly listed U.S. companies has fallen by nearly half since 1996.
● Much of the value creation now occurs while companies are still private, think Stripe,
SpaceX, Databricks, and OpenAI.

Private markets have historically been out of reach for the average investor. Minimums are high,
liquidity is low, and regulations have limited participation to institutions or accredited individuals.
This has contributed to growing inequality in who benefits from early-stage, high-growth
investments.

 

Enter Tokenization

Tokenization flips this model on its head.

At its core, tokenization is the process of digitally representing ownership of an asset on a
blockchain. In the context of private market equities, that means turning shares of a private
company into digital tokens that can be bought, sold, or traded—often in fractional amounts.

Here’s why this matters:

● Accessibility: You no longer need millions to invest in a private company. Tokenization
enables smaller transaction sizes and fractional ownership.
● Liquidity: Traditionally, private investments were locked up for years. Tokenized assets
can be traded on regulated secondary markets, improving exit options.
● Transparency and Efficiency: Blockchain technology enhances record-keeping,
reduces settlement times, and lowers administrative costs—benefiting both investors
and issuers.

 

Why Now?

The technology behind tokenization has been around for a while, but a few things have recently
aligned:

● Regulatory clarity is improving, with the SEC and FINRA outlining rules for digital
asset securities.
● Platforms like Securitize, tZERO, and INX have launched compliant marketplaces for
tokenized private equities.
● Retail Demand is surging. Investors want exposure to more than just stocks and bonds.

Perhaps most importantly, major players like Robinhood are moving in. Robinhood recently
signaled its intent to bring alternative assets, including tokenized securities, onto its platform.
The implications are massive: millions of retail investors could soon access pre-IPO equity in
companies they know and love.

 

The New Frontier of Investing

We’re entering a world where private markets start to look and feel more like public ones,
without forcing companies to sacrifice control or transparency. This is powerful.

To illustrate: Imagine buying a $500 stake in a tokenized share of a growth-stage startup. If that
company is later acquired or goes public, you participate in the upside—just like a VC. Better
yet, if you need liquidity before then, you may be able to sell your tokenized shares on a
compliant secondary market.

For investors, tokenization does two important things:

1. Levels the playing field—allowing more people to benefit from early-stage innovation.
2. Unlocks a historically illiquid asset class, enabling portfolio diversification with
potentially higher returns.

Of course, risks remain. Valuations can be murky, exit timelines are uncertain, and the
regulatory environment is still evolving. But make no mistake: the direction of travel is clear.

And this is an area where professional guidance matters.

At Verde Capital Management, we believe tokenization isn’t just another trend, it’s a
groundbreaking shift in how capital markets function, promising efficiency and opportunity.

If you’re serious about building long-term wealth, it’s time to start understanding how private
markets, and the technology transforming them, can fit into your strategy.

We’re here to help you navigate this change, ask the right questions, and start early. In this new
financial era, fractional access could mean full potential.

While we’re not offering tokenized private equity solutions to clients just yet, we are actively
exploring what’s next. At Verde, we’re committed to staying at the forefront of opportunistic,
forward-thinking strategies, and there’s more to come.

 

— Connor, Dylan, and Eva, Class of 2025 Summer Interns

 

Sources:
Harvard Business Review – It’s Time to Replace the Public Corporation (2021)

Tokenized Funds: The Third Revolution in Asset Management Decoded (2024)

How Tokenization is Transforming Global Finance and Investment (2024)

What are Real World Assets?

National Bureau of Economic Research, PitchBook, NVCA, RobinHood press releases

For this month’s Marc’s Book Club, I dove into a timeless classic that continues to resonate with readers today: The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason. This book is made up of parables set in ancient Babylon, and offers key principles for acquiring wealth, keeping it, and making it grow. Despite being written nearly a century ago, and taking place in a timeframe over a thousand years ago, its lessons on personal finance are as relevant today as they were then. It emphasizes simple and actionable steps that can be applied by anyone.

One of the most powerful lessons from The Richest Man in Babylon is the principle, “Start thy purse to fattening,” which advises saving a portion of all you earn. This simple act of consistent saving is presented as the cornerstone of wealth accumulation. It teaches us to pay ourselves first, to build a proper financial foundation.

Beyond just mere saving, the book illustrates that “opportunity is a haughty goddess who wastes no time with those who are unprepared.” This concept highlights that what often appears to be “luck,” is in fact the result of preparation meeting opportunity. By continuously learning, developing skills, and having a bias towards action, we can position ourselves to seize valuable opportunities when they arise, turning potential into prosperity. 

Finally, The Richest Man in Babylon touches on the importance of planning for the future, particularly in protecting one’s accumulated wealth and providing for one’s family. In modern terms, this translates to the critical role of estate planning. Clason writes, “He must make a will of record that, in case God call him, proper and honourable division of his property be accomplished.” Estate planning through a will and trust ensures your assets are managed and distributed according to your wishes and provides security for your loved ones. This safeguards the wealth you’ve worked so hard to build for generations to come.

The Richest Man in Babylon is a simple read for anyone seeking practical advice on financial wealth building. It serves as a powerful reminder that the path to wealth is built on consistent discipline, thoughtful spending, smart investments, preparedness for opportunity, and diligent planning for the future.