When Capital Aggregation Distorts Markets: The Case For Structural Reform Through Tokenization

InnovationWhen Capital Aggregation Distorts Markets: The Case For Structural Reform Through TokenizationByIvan Kan,Forbes Councils Member.for Forbes Technology CouncilCOUNCIL POSTExpertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. Opinions expressed are those of the author. | Membership (fee-based)May 22, 2026, 06:00am EDTIvan Kan, global investor and entrepreneur at the intersection of capital markets, tokenization and emerging tech. Investor in HackIndia. gettySomething fundamental has changed in how capital markets work, and most people haven't noticed.It didn't happen because of a scandal. It happened through the slow accumulation of assets into fewer and fewer hands. According to BlackRock's Q2 2025 earnings release, the firm hit a record $12.53 trillion in assets under management as of June 2025, becoming the first asset manager to cross $12 trillion. Vanguard sits at $12 trillion and State Street at $5.7 trillion. Three firms. Nearly $30 trillion.What makes this more than a curiosity is something I've watched play out in real time: The same institutions that pool retail capital also hold significant voting stakes across competing companies in the same industries.The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance documents this extensively, including a 2025 paper finding that large institutional investors now appear among the top five shareholders in a growing number of firms across developed markets.When the same capital aggregators sit atop entire sectors, competition shifts. Not because anyone is colluding, but because the incentive structure has. Retail investors funded all of this through 401(k)s and index funds, but the moment their capital pools, their governance rights go with it. At this scale, that's a structural feature.​The Passive Investing AmplifierThe same period that produced this concentration also produced an explosion in passive investing. According to the Investment Company Institute's official in...