Anchored has launched tokenized US equities as its first product, bringing 10 Nasdaq-listed stocks on-chain through its Monday Trade integration on the Monad Layer 1 network. The rollout uses Alpaca’s brokerage infrastructure underneath the product, linking blockchain-based access with traditional equity ownership and custody.
According to Anchored, each tokenized stock is issued under a fully backed structure. The company buys the underlying shares and then creates a matching on-chain representation. That model follows a familiar tokenization approach, but Anchored is putting direct ownership of the underlying asset and full collateralization at the center of the offering. CEO Wenny Cai said capital formation is moving on-chain and that the supporting infrastructure needs to be institutional-grade from day one, adding that the current financial system still relies on infrastructure that was not built for a digital-first world.
Initial launch covers 10 stocks, with 100-plus planned
The first batch includes the top 10 Nasdaq-listed stocks. Anchored said it plans to expand the lineup to more than 100 tokenized equities in the coming months. The platform is being positioned as an end-to-end system spanning origination, issuance, distribution, and secondary-market trading, with the company aiming to fit tokenized assets into existing financial frameworks rather than operate outside them.
Anchored also said compliance and regulatory alignment are built into the infrastructure, with institutional users in mind. Future expansion is expected to include Hong Kong equities, ETFs, and tokenized fund products.
Alpaca handles the brokerage layer and custody functions
Alpaca’s Broker API sits behind the product as the execution and custody layer for the tokenized stocks. Anchored said that setup cuts down on the number of intermediaries usually involved in equity trading and settlement, while also helping keep tokenized prices aligned with the underlying securities.
Alpaca CEO Yoshi Yokokawa said the global financial system is shifting from simple computerized infrastructure to on-chain systems, with atomic settlement, real-time transparency, and structurally lower systemic risk shaping that direction. Through Alpaca’s stack, the infrastructure can also support a broader range of instruments, including stocks, ETFs, options, fixed income, and crypto.
24/7 transfers and near-instant settlement via USDC
Unlike traditional stock exchanges that operate within fixed trading hours, the tokenized equities can be transferred at any time on-chain. Transactions settle in USDC, allowing continuous funding and redemption cycles and enabling settlement that is close to real time instead of the standard T+2 timeline common in traditional equities.
The assets can also move peer-to-peer without relying on centralized trading venues. For crypto-native users, that changes how equity exposure can be held and transferred, making these positions behave more like blockchain assets inside wallets than conventional broker-account holdings.
Built for DeFi use across lending, collateral, and trading
Anchored said the tokenized stocks are designed to work with DeFi protocols, so they can be used in lending, collateral, and trading applications rather than sitting as passive holdings. Their programmable structure also makes them suitable for automated strategies and smart contract-based workflows.
That design opens a path for traditional equities and digital assets to interact within the same on-chain environment. At the same time, the model still depends on custodial arrangements and full backing of the underlying shares, while questions around liquidity fragmentation and regulatory consistency remain part of the discussion around tokenized markets.