A $2 trillion asset class is getting a new blockchain rail

ADI Chain and Shipfinex are building a route to bring commercial ships onto a blockchain rail, CoinDesk reported, targeting a maritime industry the two companies value at roughly $2 trillion in vessel assets.

ADI Chain is an Abu Dhabi-based institutional blockchain platform; Shipfinex is a Dubai-based maritime tokenization firm. Together they want to open up ship finance, the loans, leases and export credit that keep commercial fleets running, to a broader base of investors. The two companies size that market at about $680 billion in bank lending, leasing and export credit, a segment that has traditionally stayed closed to anyone outside a small circle of specialized lenders.

The initial batch is modest next to those headline numbers. Roughly 35 vessels worth a combined $500 million are earmarked for tokenization, and no maritime asset tokens have been issued yet. Token holders would receive financial claims, loans, revenue shares or other economic stakes tied to a vessel's performance, not legal ownership of the ship itself.

“Maritime finance has the scale, real assets and commercial activity to become a major new real-world asset category.”

— Ramana Kumar, President of Stablecoin Ecosystem, ADI Foundation

“Create a regulated digital route into this market, with every instrument tied to a real vessel.”

— Capt. Vikas Pandey, CEO, Shipfinex

Shipfinex currently holds only an In-Principle Approval from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, a preliminary step short of a full operating license. The firm has yet to launch a live tokenized product under that approval, and the regulatory path from here still needs to clear further review before any vessel-backed token reaches investors.

ADI Chain also hosts DDSC, a dirham-backed stablecoin licensed by the UAE Central Bank, giving the platform an existing regulated settlement asset it could pair with ship-backed instruments. The partnership arrives as other firms chase the same opening: Galactica and Ethra Ship are already active in maritime tokenization, and neither has waited for the space to mature before launching products of its own.

Ships make an unusual but logical target for tokenization. A commercial vessel generates predictable charter revenue over decades, carries a market-verifiable resale value, and already sits inside a heavily documented industry built on registries, inspections and insurance records, the kind of paper trail that makes it easier to tie a digital claim to a physical, income-producing asset than most other real-world categories attempting the same shift.

• ADI Chain (Abu Dhabi) and Shipfinex (Dubai) target a $680B ship-finance market within a $2T maritime asset class
• First batch: about 35 vessels worth roughly $500M; no tokens issued yet
• Shipfinex holds only In-Principle Approval from Dubai's VARA, not a full license
• Token holders get financial claims tied to a vessel, not legal ownership of the ship

The move fits a broader pattern in tokenized real-world assets this year. The overall RWA market has grown fivefold over the past twelve months, and on the demand side, Robinhood's own RWA transfer volume jumped 3,201% in a month, evidence that investors are willing to move real capital toward tokenized claims once a credible rail exists. Maritime finance, with its trillions in underlying assets and a lending market that has changed little in decades, is one of the largest pools that tokenization has not yet touched.

Nothing here should be taken as financial advice — just information to consider.