Coinbase Report: From No Bank Accounts to No Brokers, How Blockchain Frees the Wealth of 4 Billion People

Coinbase points out that the key to wealth lies in access to capital markets. Through asset tokenization and self-custody, it enables billions of people worldwide to cross the threshold from savers to investors.

In January, Coinbase released an industry report titled “From the Unbanked to the Unbrokered: Unlocking Wealth Creation for the World,” which delves into the core issue of global wealth inequality. The report states that today, the accumulation of wealth is no longer primarily determined by income level but by the barrier to entering capital markets. Coinbase believes that achieving “asset tokenization” via blockchain technology will be the critical breakthrough to break down this high wall and allow billions worldwide to elevate from mere “savers” to “investors.”

From “bank accountless” to “unbrokered,” how does blockchain liberate the wealth of 4 billion people worldwide?

The report introduces a new concept — “The Unbrokered.” About 4 billion adults globally may have basic bank accounts but are unable to access stock, bonds, and other capital market instruments due to geographic limitations, high transaction fees, and regulatory barriers. This results in a harsh reality: even diligent workers in developing countries cannot enjoy the benefits of global economic growth like investors in New York. Coinbase believes that through equity tokenization and permissionless blockchains, the gatekeeping mechanisms of traditional financial institutions will be broken, making capital ownership no longer a privilege for the few.

Data Revelation: Wage Growth Lags Capital Returns by Nearly 3 Times

The report points out that the real wealth gap in the current global economy is no longer just between high and low earners but between those with access to capital markets and those excluded from them. Over the past 40 years, the US stock and real estate capital (Capital) has grown by 136%, far exceeding the 57% growth in wages, leading to excessive wealth concentration among a small group of investors. This is not only an economic issue but also a root cause of social class solidification.

Furthermore, investors tend to overly concentrate their investments domestically, missing out on global diversification opportunities. For small investors, cross-border investment faces “triple friction”: high regulatory compliance costs, high account opening barriers, and inefficient settlement systems. For example, the minimum subscription for Rwanda’s government bonds is about $70, while the country’s per capita GDP is only around $1,000. This barrier directly excludes the masses.

Are tokenization and public blockchains the solution?

The report states that stablecoins have already demonstrated blockchain’s strength as a 24/7 low-cost payment infrastructure, with B2B stablecoin payment volume reaching an annualized $76 billion by 2025. The next step is to apply this logic to traditional assets, namely asset tokenization (RWA).

By issuing stocks and bonds on permissionless blockchains, the future financial system will have the following advantages:

• Atomic Settlement: Transactions and delivery are completed simultaneously, eliminating T+2 waiting and default risk.
• Cost Reduction: Research estimates that tokenized stock trading can reduce investor transaction costs by over 30%.
• Programmable Compliance: Using zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) and on-chain certificates, identity verification (KYC) only needs to be done once and can be reused across platforms, significantly lowering compliance costs.
• Fracturable Ownership: Retail investors can buy “fractional shares” of top assets like Apple or Nvidia with minimal amounts.

Coinbase Calls for Protecting “Self-Custody Rights”

To realize inclusive finance in global capital markets, Coinbase has proposed five core recommendations to policymakers worldwide, which are highly relevant to Taiwan’s ongoing draft of the VASP law and RWA regulatory framework:

1. Maintain Base Layer Neutrality: Blockchain protocols should remain neutral like TCP/IP of the internet; regulation should target application layers (such as exchanges), not the underlying protocols.
2. Establish Clear Pathways for Tokenized Assets: Laws should recognize on-chain records as proof of ownership and allow securities to be issued as tokens.
3. Promote Integration with Traditional Finance: Banks and regulated entities should be allowed to participate in the crypto ecosystem (e.g., custody, fiat on/off ramps) without being isolated by punitive capital requirements.
4. Recognize the Right to Self-Custody: Users should have the right to directly control their assets, which is key to preventing risks from centralized institution failures.
5. Modernize Market Safeguards: Use on-chain data transparency to combat illegal finance rather than outright bans.

Tokenization Vision: Can a Nigerian street vendor also buy NVIDIA fractional shares?

The report concludes with a concrete future scenario: a street vendor in Nigeria selling electronics, facing local currency devaluation and inflation, no longer only holds cash but uses a mobile wallet to convert income into USD stablecoins within seconds and purchase $50 worth of NVIDIA tokenized fractional shares.

When she needs to pay for tuition, she can sell part of her holdings, and the funds are instantly credited. The entire process requires no complicated cross-border remittance forms, no minimum account opening threshold, and the assets are always self-custodied by her. This is the ultimate goal of the “tokenized economy”: access to capital markets should no longer depend on your birthplace or bank balance but on your savings willingness. This will transform billions of dollars of idle capital into productive assets, driving global economic growth.

• This article is reprinted with permission from: “Chain News”
• Original title: “Coinbase Report: Income Can No Longer Accumulate Wealth, Lowering Capital Market Barriers Will Be the Solution to Wealth Inequality”
• Original author: Co2