tokenization

Robinhood co-founder, chairman, and CEO Vlad Tenev posted on X that everyone, regardless of where they are, should have access to high-quality financial assets. Tokenization will unlock the advantages of the U.S. capital markets and make them available globally.He stated that the industry is still relatively small compared to global finance, but its advantages are increasingly hard to ignore. Traditional market infrastructure is built around fixed trading hours, closed networks, and multiple intermediaries, and is not designed for 24/7 execution, programmable assets, composability, or self-custody. The changes in investor demand are outpacing the underlying infrastructure, and the team is working hard to change this situation.Tenev expressed confidence in seeing founders, LPs, traders, and infrastructure teams driving industry development. The industry is still in its early stages, and there is a lot of work to be done. The old system needs time to adapt, but it is worth the effort.

According to Digital Asset, the South Korean Financial Services Commission has announced plans to advance a tokenization model for listed stocks centered around the Korea Exchange (KRX), referencing pilot programs from the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. Non-listed stocks will be advanced for tokenization through a trust method.The Financial Services Commission has released a three-phase roadmap for the tokenization of standardized assets. The first phase will launch in February 2027 when the token securities law is implemented, targeting tokenization of private money market funds, private corporate bonds, and non-listed stocks, limited to institutional investors. The second phase will expand the scope to public offerings. The third phase will promote "on-chain settlement," meaning that both securities and settlement methods will complete payments and settlements on the blockchain. The Financial Services Commission stated that on-chain settlement will be officially advanced after stablecoin legislation.

AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron criticized the AMC stock token launched by Robinhood on the X platform on Thursday, stating that AMC has no association with this product and does not endorse it. Aron indicated that Robinhood is clearly pushing a plan involving the "tokenization of real-world assets related to AMC (including stock tokens)" and called this practice "despicable" and "outrageous." AMC will request an investigation into this matter by external securities legal counsel.Robinhood's stock tokens are derivatives that provide holders with economic exposure to U.S. stocks but do not confer ownership of the underlying stocks. Other tokenization models include custodians holding traditional stocks and issuing tokens as endorsements, as well as issuers authorizing the direct on-chain registration of stocks. This conflict comes at a time when tokenized stocks are attracting the attention of crypto exchanges, brokerages, and Wall Street institutions, as blockchain tracks enable round-the-clock trading, faster settlements, and broader distribution.Robinhood has made tokenization a core part of its crypto expansion, launching tokens last year that track hundreds of U.S. stocks and ETFs, and is building its own blockchain to support tokenized assets. Previously, OpenAI also publicly denied the tokens related to it launched by Robinhood, stating that they do not represent OpenAI equity and that it has not collaborated with or endorsed Robinhood. AMC's opposition brings this controversy to the level of publicly traded companies.

According to CoinDesk, Bitget CEO Gracy Chen told CoinDesk that Bitget is in talks with several large global financial institutions, including BlackRock, to help expand the distribution of digital asset products in Asia. Gracy Chen cited BlackRock, the world's largest asset management company, as an example, stating that it hopes to expand the distribution of tokenized ETFs in Asia and mentioned, "We maintain very close communication with BlackRock regarding distribution in the Asian market."A spokesperson for BlackRock responded that the company's cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs) have been launched in Asia and confirmed that it regularly collaborates with virtual asset service providers on different projects, but did not comment on specific expansion plans in the Asian market. According to an OECD report, as of June 2025, the trading volume of blockchain cryptocurrency assets in Asia is expected to grow by 69% year-on-year, the highest growth rate among all global regions.BlackRock manages assets totaling $11.6 trillion. At the 2026 Hong Kong Consensus conference, Nicholas Peach, head of BlackRock's Asia-Pacific iShares division, stated that Asian household wealth is approximately $108 trillion, and even if only 1% is allocated to cryptocurrency assets, it could lead to nearly $2 trillion in inflows. Bitget has 125 million registered users globally, with about half located in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Company data from Q1 2026 shows that 52% of users hold both cryptocurrencies and traditional stocks.

According to Cointelegraph, the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the BlackRock-backed tokenization platform Securitize to advance the tokenization and digital asset infrastructure development in the UAE and Dubai. Both parties stated that the agreement will establish a collaborative framework to support regulated tokenization initiatives, promote institutional participation, and strengthen Dubai's digital asset ecosystem.A VARA spokesperson stated that the memorandum aims to combine VARA's regulatory perspective with Securitize's experience in institutional tokenization to determine how the collaboration can help Dubai develop a trustworthy and regulated tokenization market, with no specific projects to be announced at this stage. Carlos Domingo, co-founder and CEO of Securitize, stated that Dubai is one of the most forward-looking jurisdictions for global digital asset innovation, and collaborating with regulators is crucial for tokenization to move from concept to mainstream financial infrastructure.At the time of this announcement, investor demand for tokenized assets continues to rise. According to RWA.xyz data, the total number of tokenized asset holders has increased by 103% over the past 30 days to 3.2 million, and the total value of tokenized assets has grown by 2% to $38.5 billion. Securitize is currently the largest tokenization platform globally, with a tokenized asset management scale of $4.9 billion, while Ondo Finance ranks second with $3.5 billion.

The law firm Harneys and the tokenization platform droppRWA plan to issue the first catastrophe bond that directly records ownership on the blockchain, with the first trading target set for early 2027. This structure will make the blockchain a legally enforceable record of ownership, with investor registration, qualification review, and payment processes all placed within the same system, reducing reconciliation time from several days to seconds, provided that the necessary regulatory approvals are obtained.The catastrophe bond market is a $65.6 billion market that allows insurance companies, reinsurance companies, and government agencies to transfer natural disaster exposure to capital market investors. The tokenized asset market has nearly tripled in the past year to over $33 billion, and Citigroup expects this sector to reach $5.5 trillion by 2030. The second quarter of 2026 is projected to be the largest quarter in catastrophe bond issuance history, with 48 transactions issuing a total of $11.3 billion, and the Bermuda Stock Exchange accounted for 93% of global catastrophe bond issuance in 2025.To lower the investment threshold, investors will not directly purchase catastrophe bond notes, which typically have a minimum denomination of $250,000, but instead purchase beneficial interests in vehicles that hold the bonds and pass through the returns, with the minimum investment amount expected to drop to $5,000. The project is still subject to applicable regulatory requirements and approvals, and any platform administrator role must be licensed under Bermuda's Digital Asset Business Act 2018.

Crypto KOL Rune posted that his previously disclosed idea of "acquiring a Nasdaq-listed company and tokenizing equity on the Robinhood Chain" is actually a post generated by Claude, and the related data is all fabricated or exaggerated.Previously, Rune claimed to have acquired a 37.4% stake in a certain Nasdaq-listed company for $1.8 million and planned to pair the tokenized stock with a Meme coin.

According to The Defiant, Securitize has announced a partnership with Socios.com, where Securitize will provide regulated securities issuance, investor onboarding, and ownership record services for Socios.com’s plan to sell tokenized minority equity in professional sports clubs.The token product branded as Socios Equity Tokens will be subject to applicable securities laws, league requirements, club approvals, and jurisdictional restrictions. Fan Tokens and Socios Equity Tokens will function as separate products, with the former used for participation and utility, while the latter represents regulated financial rights.Carlos Domingo, co-founder and CEO of Securitize, stated that professional sports clubs represent an important asset class that has largely remained private and difficult to access. Securitize's regulated infrastructure in the U.S. and Europe can provide clubs and their owners with new ways to issue and manage equity. Alexandre Dreyfus, founder and CEO of Chiliz Group, mentioned that the collaboration with Securitize will explore entering the next phase through regulated tokenized equity.It is reported that this plan is expected to become the first tokenized project launched by Securitize under the EU DLT pilot regime, which only accepts issuers with a market capitalization of less than 500 million euros. Securitize received authorization from Spain's CNMV for DLT trading and settlement systems in November 2025.

According to Cointelegraph, Hashkey has joined the Digital Asset Advisory Working Group of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), becoming the first Asian digital asset service provider to join this working group.DTCC is a core post-trade infrastructure provider for global financial markets, and this working group brings together over 100 global financial institutions and asset management companies, including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Nasdaq, and the New York Stock Exchange, to jointly define the issuance, settlement, and custody standards for institutional-grade tokenized assets.DTCC plans to launch tokenized securities services in October. Previously, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a no-action letter to a DTCC subsidiary in December, allowing it to provide tokenization services for the securities market.SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated that the approval of this pilot is just the beginning, and the SEC will consider innovation exemptions to help builders promote the on-chain transformation of the market without bearing cumbersome regulatory requirements. Atkins first proposed the idea of tokenization innovation exemptions at the DeFi roundtable on June 9.

Lily Liu, the chair of the Solana Foundation, stated that funds, assets, and ownership are migrating to an all-weather internet infrastructure, forming a long-term token supercycle.Tokenization is not only about moving assets onto the chain but also about changing the assets themselves, allowing value to be issued, held, financed, and traded in a market that never closes.She believes that stablecoins have proven that funds can flow onto the chain globally, financial institutions are pushing for asset tokenization, and blockchain infrastructure is beginning to meet the demands of real economic activities for speed and cost, while AI economic agents require programmable money.With these factors converging, any value with clear ownership could be tokenized and gain broader distribution, financing, and trading channels.In the past year, the trading volume of RWA on Solana reached hundreds of billions of dollars, covering tokenized U.S. Treasury bonds, stocks, and private credit; during the same period, stablecoin transfer volume exceeded $4.7 trillion.Liu stated that tokenization can also allow more investors to break through geographic, minimum investment, and qualification restrictions, and enable the assets held to be used for collateral or to generate returns. Although the current on-chain market size is still far below that of traditional markets, the relevant infrastructure could potentially reach 5.5 billion internet users globally in the future.

The parent company of Kraken, Payward, announced a partnership with the London Stock Exchange (LSE) to tokenize the stocks of the 100 largest companies listed on the LSE into xStocks, which are backed 1:1. The first London-listed xStocks are expected to be launched on Kraken and other platforms supporting the xStocks Alliance in the coming weeks, available to investors in over 110 countries, but not yet open to UK investors.Subject to regulatory approval, the LSE plans to list and support xStocks trading on its newly launched extended trading hours, LSE 24. LSE CEO Julia Hoggett stated that by collaborating with Payward and continuously working with the market infrastructure ecosystem, they are exploring how issuers and investors can benefit from new access methods while maintaining the standards that underpin the public market. In addition to tokenizing existing stocks, both parties will also explore the issuance of native equity tokens through LSE infrastructure, which have the same rights as traditional stocks and are fully interchangeable.Payward's tokenized stock framework was launched in June 2025 and acquired by Payward in December, having processed over $40 billion in total trading volume, covering more than 200,000 holders, with nearly $20 billion settled on-chain. According to RWA.xyz data, there are currently approximately $2.53 billion in existing tokenized stocks, with xStocks tokenizing about $606.6 million, making it the second-largest issuer after Ondo.

The London Stock Exchange (LSEG) and Payward, the parent company of the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, announced a partnership to bring stocks of the largest listed companies in the UK onto the blockchain. In the coming weeks, the stocks of the top 100 companies listed on the LSE will be available on Payward's xStocks tokenized stock framework. These xStocks are tokens that correspond one-to-one with the underlying stocks, allowing for 24/7 trading on centralized exchanges, self-custody wallets, and on-chain applications.This initiative continues the rapidly expanding framework of Payward. Over the past year, the cumulative trading volume of xStocks has exceeded $40 billion, with nearly $20 billion settled on-chain, and more than 200,000 product holders. Through the blockchain channel, UK-listed stocks will be able to reach investor groups in over 110 countries, although xStocks are currently not available to domestic UK investors.Subject to regulatory approval, the LSE plans to list and support xStocks trading on its newly launched 24-hour trading platform, LSE 24, and will gradually cover tokenized stocks and more asset classes in the US, EU, UK, and Hong Kong. Both parties also stated that they will explore stock tokens issued natively by the LSE, allowing LSE members to issue and service stocks directly on-chain, with the same full interchangeability and rights as traditional stocks. Payward Co-CEO Arjun Sethi stated that for years, people have assumed that crypto and traditional finance must collide and one side would lose, but that has never been the real story;

Dialectic Meccanico announced plans to launch the on-chain vault Starloop based on Makina on Base, expected to go live in September 2026, for eligible tokenized SpaceX exposure holders to put their positions to use.After users deposit tokenized SpaceX exposure, the vault will borrow USDC against it as collateral and deploy it to approved on-chain opportunities, with net earnings flowing back to depositors while retaining exposure to the underlying assets. Dialectic is the first operator of Makina and has operated public vaults such as DUSD and DETH.

DTCC's DTC Tokenization Service is scheduled to go live commercially in October 2026, having completed production transactions on the Canton Network on July 15 as a final operational stress test for the system. Over 30 companies participated in these transactions, testing collateral pledging, securities lending, U.S. Treasury and repo DVP, equity DVP, equity DVD, equity token transfers, and CCP margin workflows, covering the Canton Network and LFDT's Besu.Regulatory foundations were established on December 11, 2025, when the SEC issued a no-action letter authorizing DTC to operate tokenization services for its custodial assets on a pre-approved blockchain, with a three-year authorization. This service is supported by DTCC's ComposerX platform suite. The industry working group currently includes over 50 companies, including BlackRock, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Citi, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Schwab, State Street, Nasdaq, NYSE, Circle, Ondo, Ripple Prime, Fireblocks, BitGo, Tradeweb, and Virtu.DTCC data shows that global high-quality liquid assets reach $300 trillion, with only 10% to 11% currently used as collateral.

tZERO has reached a series of agreements with the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) to help build the next generation of public securities market infrastructure. According to the new memorandum of understanding, tZERO will serve as the primary design partner for digital transfer agent and broker-dealer infrastructure, aimed at supporting ICE's upcoming on-chain settlement on the NYSE-associated tokenized securities platform.ICE has agreed to participate in tZERO's latest financing round. As part of the agreement, ICE will license tZERO's blockchain patent portfolio for the platform and other potential applications. Both parties will also explore the use of tZERO tokenized assets for collateral management at ICE's clearinghouse and affiliated institutions.