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Blockchain investor Onigiri Capital is targeting the Philippines as a prime market for digital asset tokenization. Manager Kate Wang said the country has widespread mobile wallet usage and strong potential for broader retail participation in regulated investments.
Why the Philippines
On November 27, Wang’s keynote presentation at the Project Bayani press conference outlined the firm’s focus on blockchain, stablecoins, financial infrastructure, and payments. Project Bayani is a whitepaper by Onigiri Capital, PDAX, and Saison Capital on the $60 billion tokenized asset opportunity in the Philippines.
She noted that the firm chose to highlight the Philippines in its latest tokenization report because data showed that, despite rising digital activity, Filipinos remain underrepresented in regulated investments. This gap points to a distribution problem rather than weak demand. The newly launched fund aims to expand its reach beyond the existing network, attract more institutional partners, and provide visibility and validation for its portfolio companies.
Wang emphasized that mobile wallets such as GCash, Coins.ph, and PDAX now function as investment entry points. These platforms have embedded blockchain capabilities and reach tens of millions of users.
“When we look and analyze today’s market in [the] Philippines, when we look at infrastructure, it is ready… And next when we look at tokenization, tokenization is actually a real life here.. So, with this, we definitely believe that this is a unique opportunity for us to come in to really quantify how much regulated wealth could be unlocked through tokenization.”
Kate Wang, Manager, Onigiri Capital
Tokenized Assets Best Fit for the Philippines
Wang said the firm examined asset classes that already have demand, remain largely accessible only to high-net-worth individuals, and could benefit from lower minimums and reduced friction through tokenization.
This evaluation led to four categories seen as most suitable for the Philippines: government bonds, mutual funds, public equities, and real-world assets such as money market products and fractional real estate.
Onigiri Capital used a conservative model to assess tokenization potential. This estimate assumes that regulated assets will migrate on-chain, adoption will be driven by wallet penetration rather than crypto speculation, and a shift from traditional account openings to wallet-based investing will occur. Criteria included market size, upside potential, visibility, and retail-driven growth.
Under this model, the firm projects that tokenized financial products could reach up to 60 million Filipinos by 2030. Government bonds and mutual funds exhibit the strongest penetration potential, as distribution channels are already established.
“Looking at this data, we see a lot of potential in [the] Philippines itself to be attacked by the global market as well to really come in. And what makes [the] Philippines really different and also why the impact is real, it’s because tokenization has a different purpose and philosophy.”
Kate Wang, Manager, Onigiri Capital
She added that, unlike markets where tokenization mainly upgrades securities trading, the Philippines uses tokenization to expand ownership to everyday citizens. This positions the country for a “mass participation model” in which retail users drive adoption.
What is Onigiri Capital
Onigiri Capital is Saison Capital’s newly launched investment fund focused exclusively on blockchain technology. It was created by the team behind Saison Capital, an investment firm active in financial services since 2017 with operations in Southeast Asia, India, and Brazil.
Wang said the launch of Onigiri Capital marks the company’s shift toward securing broader financial institution backing and expanding beyond its existing investment network.
The fund focuses on stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, financial infrastructure, decentralized finance, and payments.
Before its Philippine report under Project Bayani, the team also released studies in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brazil. These reports examined local tokenization markets, regulatory environments, and strategic opportunities, forming part of a broader effort to understand early tokenization adoption across emerging markets.
Worth reading: Project Bayani: PH Tokenized Asset Market Could Reach $60B by 2030 — PDAX, Saison Capital, Onigiri Capital
This article is published on BitPinas: Why the Philippines Is Ideal for Tokenized Assets, According to Onigiri Capital
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