Understanding Stock Tokenization in One Article: Who's Doing It, How to Buy, and What Are the Risks?
In the past 60 days, the U.S. capital market has undergone structural changes surpassing the last decade. The SEC outlined a blueprint for tokenized securities, Nasdaq received approval for token settlement, and NYSE partnered with Securitize to launch a tokenization platform. Despite a global equity market worth ~$140 trillion, tokenized stocks represent only ~$890 million—a 0.0007% penetration.
The SEC’s January 2026 statement classified tokenized securities into four models:
- **Model A (Issuer-Sponsored)**: Direct on-chain ownership (e.g., Galaxy Digital tokenizing its own stock).
- **Model B (Tokenized Securities)**: Intermediated custody with blockchain settlement (adopted by Nasdaq, NYSE, DTC).
- **Model C (Pegged Securities)**: Synthetic claims via omnibus accounts (e.g., Ondo Finance, xStocks, Dinari—dominant with ~$650M TVL).
- **Model D (Derivative Contracts)**: Pure synthetic exposure (e.g., Ventuals’ perpetual swaps on Hyperliquid).
For public stocks, Models C and B lead, but face challenges: Model C introduces counterparty risk (no SIPC insurance), while Model A requires issuer participation. Private market tokenization is more transformative, addressing illiquidity and high barriers in the $7T private equity space. Platforms like PreStocks and Jarsy offer 24/7 tokenized access to pre-IPO stocks (e.g., SpaceX, OpenAI) but lack direct ownership rights. Traditional private equity platforms (Forge, EquityZen) are regulated but slow and expensive.
Key risks include fee stacking in SPV structures, regulatory uncertainty, and synthetic products’ high funding rates (e.g., Ventuals’ 54% annualized cost for long positions). Infrastructure players (e.g., Securitize, Berry) are advancing models with independent custody to mitigate risks. The convergence of institutional adoption and retail demand signals a foundational shift in market structure, though scalability and transparency remain critical hurdles.
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