$24 billion- That's the size of the tokenized real-world asset market today - and almost none of it is reaching the investors crypto promised to serve.

LKI CEO Maryna Barysheva joined a panel at The Capital Circle Connect in Abu Dhabi on December 11, where industry leaders from ventures, private credit, and crypto exchanges discussed how institutions are truly entering the Tokenized Assets space.

Panelists:

1. Anna L De Bacci, Co-Founder & CEO, Bacci Capital

2. Andres Meneses, Founder, CryptoOGs / OrbytX

3. Hedi Mesme, Co-Founder and CEO, Limitless Capital

4. Maryna Barysheva, CEO, LKI Consulting

Private credit is the bridge, not Bitcoin. RealFi's mandate is bringing 7-15% real yield to stablecoin markets, and Sah expects the biggest moves there next year. The logic is simple: private credit has the liquidity crypto holders want, plus the strict underwriting traditional finance trusts.

Gulf capital isn't just bigger - it's faster. Bacci’s family office network spans 50,000 members across Miami, New York, London, and Dubai, with roughly 40% of deals in blockchain and AI. The move away from US and London VCs isn't about capital drying up - Gulf angels and family offices just move faster. But trust is earned. A warm referral isn't optional here; it's the way in. One small raise from a regional office becomes credibility the rest of a founder's network can borrow.

The market doesn't owe founders anything. Barysheva named the industry's core problem: entitlement. A normal startup founder fails 5 to 7 times before becoming a unicorn. Crypto founders chase a hot narrative, ship an AI coin or a yield product, and expect wealth on launch day. Across 200-plus founders, teams manufacture the illusion of success - quests, airdrops, fake engagement - instead of validating real demand.

Governments are the best marketers in crypto. Barysheva mentioned that the states own the strongest distribution channels and weaponize the "unity effect" - Singapore, the UAE, and Hong Kong are integrating blockchain, so no government wants to lag. That top-down narrative is what actually moves adoption.