Airbnb CEO: Trust, not tech, will drive RWA tokenization

Brian Chesky says RWA tokenization could make ownership as accessible as information online, but stresses that trust and governance, not technology, will determine which projects succeed. No Airbnb initiatives announced.

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has publicly endorsed real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, highlighting its potential to make ownership global, fractional, and instant—much like how the internet made information easily accessible. Chesky emphasized that the real challenge for tokenized asset projects lies in building trust and governance frameworks, rather than focusing solely on technological advancements. He argued that the true innovation is in democratizing ownership and making it routine, not just in the underlying blockchain infrastructure. Chesky did not announce any specific Airbnb initiatives or mention particular tokens or platforms. However, he noted that the RWA tokenization market is expanding, with distributed tokenized assets valued at approximately $31 billion and growing onchain use in DeFi. Chesky predicted that adoption will begin slowly but could become mainstream if projects can establish the necessary trust and governance to give users confidence in digital asset transfers.