Tokenized Equities Hit $1B as Regulatory Shift Unlocks Growth

The velocity of growth in tokenized equities is staggering. From barely registering as an asset class a year ago, the market is now approaching $1 billion—a nearly 30x increase. This explosive growth has been captured by a small group of platforms that moved with decisive speed. The launch of Ondo Global Markets in September 2025 exemplifies this, as it became the largest tokenized stock platform within 48 hours, reflecting pent-up demand, particularly from investors outside the United States seeking 24/7 access to U.S. equities.

The market has rapidly consolidated around three key players. According to data from Sentora Research, Ondo holds a commanding 53.8% market share with a total value of $461.6 million across 201 assets. Backed Finance, which was acquired by Kraken in December 2025, controls about a quarter of the market (22.6%, $193.7M). Securitize rounds out the top three with a 17.1% share, derived almost entirely from a single, pioneering asset: the tokenized common stock of Exodus, the first U.S.-registered company to take this step. Together, these three platforms account for over 93% of the total tokenized equity value, leaving smaller players like WisdomTree, Superstate, and Dinari with single-digit shares.

While tokenized treasuries remain a larger market at $9.3 billion, the growth trajectory of tokenized equities is dramatically different, expanding roughly 30 times faster. This divergence points to fundamentally different buyer profiles and use cases. Treasury tokenization has primarily attracted institutions seeking yield-bearing, stable-value assets—a conservative application of the technology. In contrast, equity tokenization is capturing more speculative and access-oriented capital flows.

The trading data underscores this interpretation. Monthly transfer volume for tokenized equities reached $2.4 billion against roughly $860 million in assets under management. This results in a volume-to-AUM ratio of nearly 3x, a clear signal of active, frequent trading rather than passive, long-term holding. This hyper-liquid, on-chain trading environment is a defining characteristic of the nascent equity tokenization market and distinguishes it from its treasury counterpart.

The infrastructure supporting this market is also evolving. Ethereum remains the leading chain, hosting 38.5% of tokenized equity value, but its dominance is eroding. Solana has captured 18.5%, largely as the primary chain for Backed Finance’s xStocks, benefiting from its sub-second finality and integration with lending protocols like Kamino Finance. Algorand holds a significant 15.2% share almost exclusively through the Exodus tokenization, reflecting its strategic focus on compliant securities infrastructure.

The most significant developments, however, came from regulators in December 2025, providing the clarity many institutions awaited. The SEC authorized a three-year pilot with the DTCC to tokenize Russell 1000 equities, U.S. Treasuries, and major index ETFs, creating a formal pathway for traditional market infrastructure—central clearing, regulated exchanges, broker-dealers—to interoperate with blockchain settlement. Concurrently, the SEC clarified that broker-dealers can custody tokenized equities if they control private keys, removing a major operational barrier. These moves were complemented by Nasdaq’s proposal to trade tokenized securities under its existing oversight.

Internationally, momentum built as Ondo received approval to offer tokenized U.S. stocks across all 30 European Economic Area countries via Liechtenstein’s regulator, opening a distribution channel to over 500 million potential investors. Furthermore, the SEC’s decision to close its investigation into Ondo without charges in November 2025 removed a lingering regulatory overhang, clearing the path for further expansion.

Tokenized equities have transitioned from concept to working market infrastructure in under a year. The future now hinges on whether regulatory momentum sustains and whether traditional finance fully migrates onto blockchain rails or keeps it segregated. Forecasts for the broader tokenized asset market are vast, ranging from $2 trillion to nearly $19 trillion by the early 2030s. If equities maintain their current share of tokenized real-world assets, this implies a $20 to $190 billion market by 2030.

Reaching that scale would require sustained annual growth of 50% to over 100%—an ambitious but not implausible target given the 30x growth demonstrated in the past 12 months. A key catalyst for this growth could be the integration of tokenized stocks as usable collateral in DeFi protocols. This innovation would enable retail investors to borrow against publicly traded equity in a programmable, on-chain manner, unlocking new utility and capital efficiency for this rapidly maturing asset class.