Market drivers in 2025
One of the Two Market Drivers This Year
Since the beginning of 2025, the two most important themes driving US financial markets have been, in addition to artificial intelligence, which remains hot in its third year, the application of stablecoins, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, and the various blockchain technologies (including tokenised stock) underlying them. The most important of these and what interests investors the most is tokenized stocks.
All this happened in the past six months
In recent months, major Wall Street financial institutions have been exploring asset tokenization more broadly—the process of putting real-world assets on the blockchain—to improve the efficiency and accessibility of capital markets. BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and JPMorgan Chase have all entered this field in recent months.
Activities of Major Vendors
Robinhood
Robinhood is the most active major financial broker promoting tokenized stocks and has already commercialized them. Robinhood stated, “The goal of tokenization is to enable anyone to participate in this economy.”
On June 30th, Robinhood announced the launch of tokenized shares of OpenAI and SpaceX to European users as part of its broader crypto asset rollout. Robinhood’s stock price surged nearly 13% that day, reaching a new all-time high.
These tokenized assets will be available exclusively through Robinhood’s EU crypto app. These over 200 tokenized stocks and ETFs will allow European users to purchase derivatives on over 200 US stocks, including Apple, Tesla, Microsoft, and Nvidia. Some eligible European users will even be able to purchase derivatives on stocks not yet listed on the primary and secondary markets, such as OpenAI and SpaceX. Trading is now available 24/7, five days a week, with no commissions or spreads.
Robinhood stated that the tokenized shares and ETFs offered on the platform will initially be issued on the Arbitrum blockchain, support dividends, 24/7 trading, and promise a commission-free, spread-free trading experience. In the future, these assets will be migrated to Robinhood’s dedicated Layer 2 network, enabling cross-chain bridging, self-custody, and other features, creating a truly seamless crypto trading experience.
OpenAI and SpaceX are notable because neither company is publicly traded, and historically, only insiders and ultra-wealthy investors have access to their equity.
For more information about Robinhood, please see my post of “How Robinhood makes money?“
Kraken and XStocks
Crypto exchange Kraken has partnered with XStocks to offer blockchain-based stock trading and has launched over 60 US stocks and ETFs tokenized at 1:1 ratios. Another key difference between the DeFi ecosystems of Kraken, Bybit, and Solana and the XStocks issued by Bats, a company backed by Coinbase, is that they are fundamentally different. Simply put, Bybit’s early launch of Stock Tokens didn’t have a 1:1 mapping; it was actually a CFD that simply tracked the price changes of these US stocks. However, a few days ago, it announced support for XStocks, which should indicate a 1:1 mapping.
Coinbase
Coinbase confirmed to CNBC that it is preparing to launch tokenized versions of US stocks—digital versions of stocks that can be traded on a blockchain. This product will allow users to buy and sell fractional shares 24/7, with faster settlement and lower costs than traditional stock markets. The company’s Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, announced in June that the company is seeking approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for this product.
On June 31, 2025, Coinbase announced that it is increasing its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings and plans to launch tokenized US stocks and prediction markets in the coming months.
For more information about Coinbase, please see my post of “How do Coinbase and Binance make money? Advantages comparison“
Gemini
On June 27, 2025, Gemini announced that it had launched its first tokenized US stock strategy to European clients and is expanding its offering of tokenized US stocks.
eToro
In a webinar held on July 29, 2025, eToro announced that it will expand its 24/7 trading service to include approximately 100 of the most popular US-listed stocks and ETFs as underlying assets. Furthermore, eToro plans to issue these 100 US stocks and ETFs as ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. These tokenized shares will be pegged 1:1 to the underlying shares held by eToro. Furthermore, eToro plans to allow these tokenized assets to be transferred to users’ own wallets.
Galaxy Digital
Galaxy has partnered with Superstate to allow its Class A common stock (ticker symbol: GLXY) to be tokenized (i.e., converted into digital tokens on the blockchain) on the Solana network. These tokenized shares are actual Galaxy Digital shares (not synthetic or simply wrapped shares) and carry the same legal rights as traditional shares. The tokenized shares are registered under SEC rules; Superstate acts as an SEC-registered transfer agent, instantly updating ownership on the public blockchain when tokens are transferred between verified wallet holders.
Among private companies, the most active is the crypto exchange Kraken’s partnership with XStocks, which offers stock trading on the blockchain and has launched over 60 US stocks and ETFs tokenized at a 1:1 ratio. Dinari also offers a platform for tokenizing US publicly listed securities, dShares, and is collaborating with companies like Gemini. Backed Finance provides xStocks token wrapping and tokenization-as-a-service for companies like Kraken.
Telegram
Telegram has announced the integration of Kraken’s xStocks, offering tokenized US stock and ETF trading services, with a rollout starting in October 2025.
This will begin with Wallet’s custodial service and will subsequently expand to Telegram’s own TON self-custodial wallet. Over 60 tokenized stocks and ETFs will be available.
With the launch of this service, users will be able to deposit and withdraw tokenized versions of Apple, Tesla, the S&P 500, and even TON Strategy Co. (TON), as well as a broader basket of global stocks.
BlackRock
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management company, migrated some of its US Treasury bond funds to blockchain in 2024. The BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), launched in 2024, became the first tokenized fund to exceed $1 billion. According to data from RWA.xyz, BUIDL’s assets reached $2.2 billion by September 2025, making it the world’s largest tokenized money market fund. Furthermore, its spot Bitcoin ETF was a resounding success, quickly becoming one of the most popular such funds in history.
In September 2025, BlackRock’s CEO emphasized that all financial assets can be tokenized, and that BlackRock was exploring the possibility of converting ETFs into blockchain tokens. ETF tokenization could potentially lead to changes such as extending trading hours beyond regular Wall Street hours, making US products more accessible to overseas investors, and enabling new uses as collateral in crypto networks.
Regulatory and Exchange Attitudes
SEC
As of today, the SEC has not approved stock tokenization for operations in the United States. Whether it’s Robinhood or the stock tokenization employed by Kraken and XStocks, operations are limited to Europe.
SEC is developing a plan to enable stocks to be traded on blockchain technology, similar to cryptocurrencies, according to a September 30 report from The Information. However, the plan faces strong opposition from traditional financial institutions that have built profit models within the existing market structure.
CSRC
China’s securities regulator has advised some mainland securities firms to suspend real-world asset tokenization operations in Hong Kong, signaling the Chinese government’s concerns about the booming offshore digital asset market. The latest regulatory guidance aims to strengthen risk management for new businesses and ensure that companies’ claims are backed by strong and legitimate operations.
While Hong Kong strives to become a digital asset hub, Beijing’s stance is relatively cautious. Reuters, citing two sources familiar with the matter, reports that the China Securities Regulatory Commission has advised some local brokerages to suspend their real asset (RWA) tokenization operations in Hong Kong, highlighting Beijing’s concerns about the booming offshore digital asset market.
WFE
On August 24, 2025, the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), a UK-based industry association of exchanges and clearing houses, expressed concern in a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Task Force on Cryptocurrencies, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) Fintech Task Force that these tokens, while purportedly intended to “trade” stocks, do not offer or mimic stocks.
The WFE stated: “We are concerned about a large number of brokerage firms and cryptocurrency trading platforms currently offering or planning to offer so-called ‘tokenized U.S. stocks.’ These products are marketed as ‘equity tokens’ or ‘equity equivalents,’ but are not.”
U.S.
Nasdaq submitted a proposal to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on September 9, proposing to adjust the rules to allow listed stocks and exchange-traded products (ETPs) to be traded on Nasdaq’s main market in “traditional digital or tokenized form.”
Reactions from major exchanges
Europe
Natasha Cazenave, Executive Director of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), noted at the Dubrovnik conference that some fintech companies are offering products that allow investors to access listed stocks or blockchain-based derivatives backed by corporate shares, often held through special purpose vehicles. Cazenave emphasized, “While these equity tokens offer the convenience of immediate trading and divisibility, they generally do not confer shareholder rights on holders.” She added, “This can create specific risks of investor misconceptions, highlighting the importance of transparency and investment protection.”
Key Points for Investors to Remember
Investors Are Not Shareholders
Stocks are tokenized, blockchain-based tokens that purport to represent shares in a company. These tokens represent ownership of the underlying securities, but investors do not become shareholders of the underlying company.
Advantages
Simply put, stock tokenization involves converting stocks previously held on traditional exchanges into blockchain tokens. Investors can trade these assets on-chain 24/7, across time zones, without the need for brokerage. This not only eliminates time and geographic restrictions, but also potentially makes previously high-barrier-to-entry assets like venture capital shares accessible to the general public in a fragmented manner.
Disadvantages
While investors can purchase these tokens, they are unable to effectively short sell or hedge risk, let alone construct complex trading strategies. US stock tokenization is essentially still in its initial stages, where investors can only buy stocks when the market is bullish.
Furthermore, since each token requires the actual custody of a stock, on-chain transactions merely transfer token ownership and cannot affect the spot price of US stocks. For example, on July 3rd, a single $500 buy order drove the price of AMZNX (Amazon stock token) on-chain to $23,781, a premium of over 100x over the actual share price. Even in non-extreme scenarios, most tokens (such as AAPLX) often experience price deviations and frequent price manipulation, making them ideal targets for arbitrageurs and liquidity market-making teams.
Secondly, the current asset functionality of US stocks is severely limited. Even though some platforms (such as MyStonks) have attempted to distribute dividends through airdrops, most platforms do not offer voting rights or re-staking channels. Essentially, these are merely “on-chain holding certificates” rather than true trading assets, lacking “margin properties.”
For example, after users purchase AAPLX, AMZNX, TSLA.M, and CRCL.M, they cannot use them as collateral for borrowing or margin trading of other assets. Furthermore, it is difficult to access other DeFi protocols (such as using US stock tokens as collateral for borrowing) to further obtain liquidity, resulting in near-zero asset utilization.
Both Robinhood’s approach and the one employed by Kraken and XStocks share the commonality that they treat US stock tokens as purely spot holdings. Users can only buy and hold them for appreciation, rendering them “dormant assets” that lack a scalable financial layer and struggle to support a vibrant on-chain trading ecosystem.
The two sides are diametrically opposed
Proponents of stock tokenization argue that tokenized shares can reduce transaction costs, speed up settlement, and facilitate 24/7 trading.
Opponents argue that if problems arise with these tokens, the issuers (i.e., the companies whose stocks are being “mimicked”) could face reputational damage. The WFE argues that these blockchain-based tokens introduce new risks for investors and could undermine market integrity.
I am the author of the original text, the essence of this story was originally featured on Smart Monthly Magazine, Issue of November 2025
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