Qualified investors outside the U.S. can now trade tokenized U.S. equities on the Ethereum blockchain, with plans to expand support for BNB Chain and Solana.
Ondo Finance, a blockchain protocol focused on tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs), is rolling out a new platform that allows non-U.S. investors to access over 100 tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs on Ethereum, according to a press release viewed by The Defiant. The protocol says it has plans to expand the number of tokenized stocks and funds to more than 1,000 by the end of the year.
The platform, called Ondo Global Markets, aims to provide 24/7 exposure to U.S. equities for qualified investors in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Africa, and Latin America, according to the release. Those who want to mint, redeem, and transfer tokenized shares would have to complete standard customer due diligence, the firm said.
At launch, the platform will focus on liquid stocks like Apple and Tesla, along with popular ETFs from Fidelity and BlackRock. Over time, Ondo says it plans to add bonds, international equities, and other publicly traded instruments.
According to the project’s FAQ page, the tokenized versions of shares are backed by the underlying U.S. securities, held at registered broker-dealers, though the tokens “do not provide their holders with rights to hold or receive their respective underlying assets.”
A spokesperson for Ondo Finance told The Defiant that the firm has decided to start with U.S. public equities “because they are the most in-demand, liquid markets in the world.” Comparing tokenized stocks to USD-pegged stablecoins and other tokenized RWAs, the spokesperson said:
For the latest initiative, Ondo Global Markets also integrates with crypto wallets, exchanges, and DeFi protocols, using Chainlink oracles for pricing data and LayerZero for cross-chain interoperability. The company said support for BNB Chain and Solana is also coming soon, though it didn’t specify a timeframe.
Lending protocol Morpho will also support select tokenized assets as collateral to borrow against and lend within a dedicated vault managed by Gauntlet, Ondo told The Defiant.
The Ondo spokesperson also said that tokenized stocks deliver the same total-return exposure as the underlying assets, noting that “each token mirrors the economic performance of its underlying asset—including price movements, dividends, and corporate actions—so holders participate in the same economic results as if they owned the asset directly.”
Ondo Finance, which boasts around $1.4 billion in total value locked (TVL), according to DefiLlama, is the latest firm to jump into the tokenized stock game.
Earlier this week, crypto exchange Kraken announced that it was partnering with Backed to expand the firm’s tokenized stock product, xStocks, to Ethereum as well. xStocks are already available on three other blockchain networks — Solana, BNB Chain, and Tron.
