Access Protocol’s Leo Wong says tokenization’s next phase is turning creator relationships into ownable rights

Access Protocol APAC lead Leo Wong used his KBW appearance to argue that tokenization is moving beyond putting stocks, bonds, and real estate on-chain. In his view, the more consequential shift is the creation of economic rights around things that historically were not treated as assets at all, including creator-fan relationships, user data, and community participation. He framed the change in simple terms: subscriptions make users customers, while tokenized participation can make them stakeholders. Wong said access can only function as capital if it develops in a specific order. First, it must become ownable rather than rented. Second, it must become productive, with staking turning access from a cost into a yield-bearing position. Third, it must become transferable and liquid so markets can price it. He said Access Protocol has already built that stack through compressed NFTs stored in users’ wallets and through Access Hub, an in-platform marketplace for subscription NFTs and creator-minted NFTs. He also argued that clear ownership is the foundation of any functioning market, ahead of liquidity, interoperability, trust, or regulation. For long-lasting economic rights, Wong listed four requirements: verifiability, self-custody, real utility, and the ability to survive after token incentives fade. On Korea, he said the market is one of the most promising in APAC and noted that about 30% of ACS trading volume currently comes from Korean exchanges.