Tokenized stocks are gaining ground fast. Ondo Finance's platform, Ondo Global Markets, has raked in over $500 million in total value locked and recorded more than $7 billion in trading volume since its September 2025 launch, making it the largest issuer in the space — ahead of Kraken's xStocks and Robinhood. According to RWA.xyz, the overall tokenized stock market now sits just shy of $1 billion, growing 27% in the past month alone. Before that, Ondo had already amassed over $2 billion in assets under management through tokenized U.S. Treasuries.
Why stocks, not real estate?
Ian de Bode, president of Ondo Finance, told CoinDesk that stocks and ETFs stand out for their clear price discovery, deep liquidity and transparent valuation. "You tokenize something either to make it easier to access or to use it as collateral," de Bode said. "Stocks fit both, and they price like assets people actually understand — unlike a building in Manhattan." Ondo issues tokenized notes backed by stocks held via clearing brokers. These tokens move freely across wallets like stablecoins, with KYC required only at the minting stage. That design allows them to trade on DeFi venues, bypassing the transfer restrictions and illiquid pools that plague other tokenized stock models.
Instant mint-and-burn: a $17 million Google stock example
De Bode highlighted the instant minting and burning mechanism as a game-changer for large investors. "One investor minted $17 million worth of Google stock tokens," he said, at prices mirroring their brokerage account with zero premium or slippage. The approach has drawn users from Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America, as well as crypto-native investors who want to toggle between bitcoin and Google shares without leaving their wallet.
Weekend liquidity woes and the 24/7 fix
But there's a catch. Traditional finance runs Monday to Friday, while crypto and DeFi operate around the clock. "Liquidity thins out on weekends," de Bode said, making hedging difficult for market makers. If the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq follow through on their plans to support 24/7 tokenized stock trading, it would sync TradFi and DeFi clocks. "If TradFi moves to 24/7, that's a godsend," de Bode said. "It's our biggest bottleneck."
2026 roadmap: hundreds of assets, 'Tether for stocks'
Ondo's focus this year is to expand its global markets platform — adding hundreds more assets, integrating with new blockchains, and powering crypto exchanges looking to compete with retail brokers. "Our goal isn't to compete with exchanges," de Bode said. "We power them. Think of us as the Tether for stocks." The company aims to become the standard infrastructure for issuing and distributing tokenized equities, rather than a front-end trading venue.