Opinion of: Anthony Agoshkov, co-founder of Marvel Capital
The world is witnessing the largest handoff of wealth in modern history.
Over the next 20 years, Millennials and Gen Z will inherit around $83 trillion, and some bullish forecasts suggest as much as $4 trillion could be tokenized onchain by 2030.
The bigger story isn’t the size of the move; This is how that capital will be put to work.
While family offices depend on real estate, trade and energy, a new generation is asking for more. They are chasing tokenized portfolios, digital-asset exposure and a seat in financial centers built for a digital-first era. Wealth managers face a clear test: expand their playbook to include tokenization, or watch the next wave of Capital Find partners in the making.
Tokenization is the bridge for wealth transfer
At the heart of this adaptation is tokenization, a mechanism that allows traditional assets to flow into digital markets without losing their familiar shape.
Yield-bearing assets can be digitized, released on Onchain and managed under familiar reporting rules. This changes the speed of capital – what once moved in years can now move in days. This is the timeline that the next generation expects. For heirs, it makes crypto less like a gamble and more like an upgrade — digital liquidity anchored in the wealth their families already trust.
This trend is already visible on the ground, with the Gulf becoming a live lab. The Dubai International Financial Center now oversees around $1.2 trillion in family-office assets, a number that is still climbing as families test how far crypto-friendly frameworks can take their wealth. Beneath the hype, the real story is that conservation is wired, tokenized funds are launchedand differentiation is moving on digital tracks. Once that plumbing is in place, the capital rarely returns.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and the UAE expect more than 12,000 new high-net-worth individuals by 2025, drawn to the hubs where tokenization already resides. Asia is also keeping pace: some overseas Chinese family offices plan to raise crypto exposure to nearly 5% of portfolios, and trading on Korea’s three main exchanges is up 17% year-to-date. That flow shows that legal clarity acts as a competitive asset and gives us a preview of the race between global wealth hubs.
For wealth managers, the takeaway is clear that efficient wealth transfer will not jump straight from bonds to bitcoin (BTC). Instead, it will move through tokenization that makes portfolios digital-first without forcing families to abandon what they know. And whoever builds that bridge first sets the standard for everyone else.
Yes, the first signs of adaptation are visible, but the path is uneven. Fighting rules, dragging infrastructure, and the generations do not see the eye. Together, these frictions slow capital and constitute the real test for wealth managers.
Hidden obstacles stall next gen capital
The transition will not be smooth. The first wall families hit is regulation.
Just look at the Gulf: overlay federal, emirate-level and free-zone policies in the UAE, plus the unique regime in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar pull capital in different directions. For families with money spread across borders, the rules are changing faster than lawyers can rewrite contracts.
Beyond the Gulf, the fractures only multiplied. Europe is leaning towards markets in crypto-assets (MICA), the US has the Genius Act, and Asia is rolling out Stablecoin regimes in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Faced with that patchwork, families ask the obvious: Which rulebook do you trust, and which will survive long enough to matter? The result is the same: capital parked on the sidelines, waiting for clarity that may never come.
Clarity on paper is not enough if the plumbing is still leaking. Many family offices still lack custodial desks, proper reporting tools or the kind of management to securely manage tokenized portfolios. Without that backbone, deals stall in manual processes, allocations remain experimental and portfolios never scale. In the end, crypto looks less like a strategy and more like a side bet.
Related: Death, Divorce and Lost Keys: The Question of Tokenized Property Succession
On top of that comes the generational split. Inheritors are eager to move in, seeing digital exposure as table stakes. Senior decision-makers dismiss it as too volatile, insensitive and far from the “real” portfolio. Whenever a boardroom says “no,” younger wealth quietly looks for someone else to say “yes.” Over time, that trickle turns into an exodus.
Put it all together, and the picture is bleak—policies tearing families apart, infrastructure stuck at catch-up and generations moving at different speeds. That’s why it’s the ultimate stress test; Managers who pass it will be obstacles on one side. The only question is what they will build tomorrow morning.
The construction of Token-ready Treasury Office
The next wave of capital does not sit back, waiting for regulators to agree, for generations to align or for infrastructure to be achieved.
Either way, families are constantly on the move, so managers must treat regulation as a toolkit. Not by chasing a “perfect” license, but by stacking jurisdictions: the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority in Dubai for issuance, Abu Dhabi Global Market for disputes, Bahrain for the Sharia Overlay and, if necessary, laying on the mica of Europe, the US’s Genius Act or Hong Kong’s regime. That way, the stack bends instead of breaking when the map moves. The capital is also.
Generational Split? It can be rewired. Give heirs wallet-based voting rights, let seniors hold the veto keys, and drive decisions through smart logic instead of endless board packets. That way, the speed younger investors expect is built-in, while the oversight older adults demand is never lost.
If regulations can be shaped into a toolkit and generational rifts become management design, then plumbing is hardly the deal-breaker. Custody tables, reporting feeds, even ready token management—these are just build-outs. Show families that digital portfolios can be run with the same discipline as legacies, and excuses disappear.
Following it, obstacles or not, they are far from unshakable. Capital always finds a route forward, even if it takes a long way. Managers who recognize that – and act on it – will capture the trillions moving today on digital rails.
Opinion of: Anthony Agoshkov, co-founder of Marvel Capital.
This article is for general informational purposes and is not intended to be and should not be construed as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
