After Tokenized U.S. Treasury Bonds, Tokenized Stocks Are Becoming the New Battleground for RWA
**Tokenized Stocks Emerge as the New RWA Battleground**
Following the initial surge of tokenized U.S. Treasuries, the tokenized stock market is rapidly expanding in both scale and quality. Unlike the currently stagnating treasury tokenization market, tokenized stock offerings are seeing significant growth and attracting major players from traditional finance, fintech, crypto exchanges, and native Web3 platforms.
The U.S. SEC has outlined a framework for tokenized securities, which applies to stocks: **Issuer-Sponsored Tokenized Securities** (direct tokenization by the issuer, inheriting all shareholder rights but with strict compliance, e.g., Securitize); **Custodial Tokenized Securities** (tokenization of custodied interests, e.g., DTCC, Ondo's recent IVV/MU tokens); **Linked Securities** (tokenized debt notes backed by the stock, offering price exposure and greater on-chain utility, e.g., Ondo, xStocks, Robinhood's new Stock Tokens); and **Security-Based Swaps** (tokenized derivatives contracts, e.g., Robinhood's earlier Classic Stock Tokens).
Key platforms are pursuing different strategies:
* **Securitize** leads with an issuer-sponsored model, ensuring full rights but limiting on-chain interactions via its compliance-enforcing DS Protocol.
* **Ondo** and **xStocks** use the linked security structure for broad accessibility on CEXs and DeFi, though this fragments liquidity and excludes U.S. users.
* **Robinhood** recently launched linked security-based Stock Tokens, leveraging its user base and new Robinhood Chain.
* Traditional infrastructure giants like **DTCC**, the **NYSE**, and **Nasdaq** are actively developing pilots and platforms for tokenized settlement and trading.
* **Coinbase** has announced plans for tokenized stocks, likely using a structure that offers on-chain utility while excluding U.S. customers.
Despite different approaches, all players are converging on tokenized stocks as the next major catalyst for the RWA sector. The evolving regulatory landscape and market adoption will shape this competitive new battlefield.
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