Three major platforms simultaneously launch U.S. stock tokenization services.

Written by: Long Yue, Wall Street Insights

The boundary between the traditional stock market and the cryptocurrency world is rapidly blurring.

U.S. stock tokenization is experiencing an unprecedented surge. On June 30, American online brokerage Robinhood announced the launch of U.S. stock tokenization services on the same day as well-known crypto trading platforms Bybit and Kraken, providing users with a 24/7 uninterrupted stock trading experience.

According to Reuters, Robinhood announced on Monday the launch of stock token trading services for EU users based on the Arbitrum network, supporting trading of over 200 U.S. stocks and ETFs, including Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft. On the same day, Bybit and Kraken launched the "xStocks" (stock tokenization) product provided by Swiss compliant asset tokenization platform Backed Finance, covering about 60 stocks and ETF tokens.

Adam Levi, co-founder of Backed Finance, stated: "xStocks represents a significant leap in the democratization of access to financial markets."

By introducing familiar assets with unprecedented accessibility to the blockchain, we are not only connecting traditional finance and DeFi but also building the foundation for a truly open, efficient, and inclusive global financial system.

These tokenized stocks are backed 1:1 by real stocks and support round-the-clock trading. Robinhood's service operates 5 days a week, 24 hours a day, with plans to eventually expand to 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

Driven by this news, Robinhood's stock price hit an all-time high, rising nearly 10%. Company executives also indicated plans to launch tokens linked to private company stocks, starting with Sam Altman's OpenAI and Musk's SpaceX.

Three major platforms showcase their strengths, with significant differences in technical paths

The U.S. stock trading solutions from mainstream crypto trading platforms exhibit different models.

Crypto exchanges Bybit and Kraken act as access platforms providing matching services, adopting a third-party issuance model, connecting to tokens issued by Backed Finance, deployed on the Solana chain for on-chain transfers and DeFi application integration. Users can trade 24/7 and enjoy corresponding economic rights (such as dividends). The compliance responsibility of this model is primarily borne by the issuer, and the exchanges themselves generally do not hold securities licenses, with service coverage typically excluding U.S. users.

Robinhood, on the other hand, has chosen to build its own chain as a licensed broker, directly issuing stock tokens based on the Arbitrum network and custodizing the underlying assets. According to Reuters, Robinhood plans to launch its own Layer 2 blockchain, Robinhood Chain, to achieve full on-chain integration of issuance, clearing, and settlement processes.

Robinhood's CEO stated at a themed event in France, "Tokenization will usher in a revolution in large-scale trading." The company plans to expand the number of tradable stock tokens to "thousands" by the end of the year and gradually achieve 24/7 trading.

The regulatory environment is becoming clearer, and stock tokenization is rising again

A previous article from Wall Street Insights mentioned that stock tokenization briefly emerged on platforms like Mirror Protocol but fell silent due to regulatory issues and market volatility. Now, with the advancement of the regulatory framework for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, traditional financial institutions and cryptocurrency firms, represented by BlackRock, are actively lobbying regulators.

Since Trump's administration, U.S. cryptocurrency regulation has gradually relaxed, and U.S. stock tokenization may become a major hotspot.

A report from Guosheng Securities indicates that Coinbase is seeking approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to offer tokenized stock trading services to users. According to CoinDesk, the company has submitted a pilot application to the SEC, and if it receives a no-objection letter or exemption, it will become one of the first compliant platforms to launch tokenized U.S. stock services in the U.S.

According to Reuters, experts believe that tokenized stocks could fundamentally change the landscape of securities investment. Tokenized stocks combine characteristics of traditional finance and crypto trading, gaining favor among international investors due to better market access, flexible trading hours, and lower costs.

The U.S. stock tokenization service not only broadens the asset allocation channels for cryptocurrency investors but may also become an important application scenario for stablecoins. As on-chain "fiat currency," stablecoins play a foundational role in U.S. stock tokenization trading.

Guosheng Securities' report predicts that the vast scale of the U.S. stock market is sufficient to drive rapid expansion in stablecoin demand.

Trillion-dollar market prospects are promising

According to McKinsey, the market for transferring physical financial assets to the blockchain could reach $2 trillion by 2030. Currently, the tokenization of relatively simple assets like U.S. Treasury bonds on-chain has achieved significant success, with the market led by companies like Securitize and Ondo reaching billions of dollars.

Trump's election has raised supporters' expectations for an improved regulatory environment. Hester Peirce, head of the SEC's cryptocurrency working group, recently expressed support for tokenization, suggesting pilot programs through a "sandbox structure" to allow innovative companies to quickly enter the market under relaxed rules.

Wyatt Lonergan of VanEck Ventures stated that crypto-native investors "want the security of assets like Apple stock within their digital ecosystem," especially during periods of volatility in the cryptocurrency market. However, for ordinary American investors, fractional trading and same-day settlement have become the standard, raising the core question of whether there is truly scalable demand.

Challenges for tokenized stocks remain

Despite the promising outlook, tokenized stocks still face significant challenges. According to Bloomberg on June 27, experts believe that there is a lack of regulatory clarity for tokenized stocks in the U.S., with most such services initially launched in jurisdictions outside the U.S.

Bryan Routledge, an associate professor of finance at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business, pointed out: "You are changing the way trading is done, not just changing the format of the asset." He predicts that this will create competition with the entire ecosystem of exchanges and brokers.

According to data from RWA.xyz, the total market size for tokenized stocks is currently only $388 million, which is negligible compared to the global stock market's size of over $120 trillion.

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