Tokenized equities have grown to $1bn onchain which is still small compared to the $100 trillion+ global equity market, but with huge growth potential if regulated exchanges receive approval to trade tokenized securities.

📊 UPDATE: Tokenized stocks surpass $1B in total value, with Ondo and xStocks leading the sector. pic.twitter.com/ziLMG4nZ6w

— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) March 10, 2026

‏Nic Puckrin‏, chief executive of The Coin Bureau, a digital asset media platform, said on X:

Tokenized stocks just crossed $1 billion on-chain.

That's equities like Apple, Tesla & Nvidia living on a blockchain.

Ondo & xStocks already control 82% of a sector that barely existed 2 years ago.

This is how traditional finance gets absorbed by crypto infrastructure.

— Nic (@nicrypto) March 10, 2026

Tokenization offers the potential for global, 24/7 trading and settlement in seconds, rather than days.

@ZeusRWA said on X that tokenized stocks are still early but momentum is building.

https://t.co/9izFCKsXnx

— Zeus (@ZeusRWA) March 11, 2026

“Compared to the $100 trillion+ global equity market, the category is still microscopic,” added @ZeusRWA. “But if major exchanges follow through on tokenized trading infrastructure such as NYSE’s upcoming blockchain-based platform, tokenized equities could become one of the fastest-growing segments of the RWA market.”

In January this year, the New York Stock Exchange announced its development of a platform for trading and on-chain settlement of tokenized securities, subject to regulatory approvals. The new NYSE venue will support trading of tokenized shares fungible with traditionally issued securities as well as tokens natively issued as digital securities.

ICE, the owner of NYSE, is also preparing its clearing infrastructure to support 24/7 trading, the potential integration of tokenized collateral, and working with banks including BNY and Citi to support tokenized deposits across ICE’s clearinghouses.

In September 2025 Nasdaq made a regulatory filing to enabling equity securities, including, but not limited to the issuer-sponsored tokens, to trade on its markets and to settle in token form through the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the U.S post-trade infrastructure.

On 9 March 2026 Nasdaq said in a statement that it has partnered with global crypto platform Kraken and the infrastructure layer behind xStocks, to enable tokenized equities to move fluidly between regulated markets and global onchain markets while preserving issuer rights, regulatory compliance, and price integrity. Connecting Nasdaq’s market infrastructure with the xStocks ecosystem aims to create interoperability between financial systems and decentralized networks.

Foresight Ventures, a crypto venture firm, said on X: “The convergence of the $150 trillion global equity market with blockchain infrastructure is no longer a thesis — it’s underway.”

https://t.co/EqqMAmnTDS

— Foresight Ventures ​ (@ForesightVen) March 10, 2026

The venture firm said the market is diverging into two paths: the evolutionary path (DTCC integration/incremental efficiency for legacy players) and the revolutionary path (direct on-chain issuance/total disintermediation). Foresight added: “Financial change never happens overnight. Direct ownership is the goal, but DTCC integration is the bridge.”

Crypto research firm Four Pillars said in a report 2026: The Year of Tokenized Stocks that there are different models of tokenized stocks.

Carlos Domingo, founder and chief executive of tokenization platform Securitize, said in the report that tokenization of stocks represents the next logical evolution of capital markets by introducing a unified, programmable ownership record that aligns with modern markets.

He highlighted that tokenization can involve synthetic structures, where tokens do not provide shareholder rights and create fragmented markets where multiple tokens represent the same underlying asset.

Domingo argued that Securitize’s native tokenization model complies with existing securities laws and tokens give shareholders the same rights as owning a standard share. This preserves legal clarity while enabling peer-to-peer transfer, self-custody and automated compliance within the framework investors already trust.

“Compliance rules can be embedded directly into the asset, with eligibility, reporting, and restrictions enforced programmatically,” Domingo. “Markets are no longer constrained by geography or trading hours, allowing capital to flow continuously.”

Melvis Langyintuo, executive director of the Canton Foundation, said in an email to Markets Media that one of the more notable aspects of Nasdaq’s proposal is its emphasis on issuer participation and governance functions such as proxy voting and dividend distribution. 

“What this development underscores is that tokenization will only scale if institutions can coordinate assets, collateral, and payments across shared infrastructure while preserving regulatory compliance and confidentiality,” said Langyintuo. “Without interoperability, tokenized securities risk fragmenting liquidity across platforms and networks, trapping assets and collateral in separate environments rather than improving market efficiency.”

Onchain assets

@ZeusRWA highlighted on X that the distributed value of real world assets onchain, excluding stablecoins, was $26.6bn as at 11 March 2026. This compares to $5bn in 2022 and $15bn by the end of 2024. Distributed value is assets that are issued and circulating on a public blockchain (or otherwise natively tokenized), held in wallets, and transferable under whatever rules the contract enforces.

“Tokenized U.S. Treasuries are the single largest non-stablecoin RWA category and the clearest proof that institutional capital is arriving onchain,” said @ZeusRWA.

Private credit onchain stands at more than $5 bn+ and represents over half of current non-stablecoin tokenized value, according to @ZeusRWA. Gold and commodities have surged with total tokenized commodities standing at $7.6bn.

@ZeusRWA argued that 2025 proved that tokenization works in institutional settings.

“2026 is about whether it can deliver sustained trading volume, continuous liquidity, and programmable compliance beyond the initial issuance stage,” added @ZeusRWA.