Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky says RWA tokenization could make ownership ‘liquid’ like the internet did for information

Brian Chesky, the CEO of Airbnb, outlined his view in a public dialogue on July 14 that real-world asset tokenization could enable “global, fractional, and instant ownership,” adding that trust will ultimately separate the winners from the wreckage.

What Chesky actually said

Chesky drew a clean analogy between the internet’s effect on information and tokenization’s potential effect on assets. “The internet made information liquid. This makes ownership liquid,” he said.

Chesky didn’t name any specific tokens, protocols, or blockchain platforms in connection with his remarks. He also didn’t announce any concrete Airbnb initiatives around tokenization.

The trust problem Chesky is pointing at

Chesky framed trust as the variable that will determine which tokenization projects succeed and which ones flame out. He is essentially arguing that what matters is whether people believe the entity behind the token will actually honor its obligations: Will that fractional deed hold up in court? Will the platform still exist in five years? Does the company have the reputation to back its digital claims?

Chesky’s crypto history and Airbnb’s positioning

This isn’t Chesky’s first brush with digital assets. Back in 2022, he reviewed approximately 4,000 feature suggestions from Airbnb users and found that crypto payment support was the single most requested feature. Despite that demand signal, Airbnb never shipped native crypto payments.

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