Earlier this month, Robinhood and others successively announced support for US stock trading on the blockchain and plan to launch their own public chain. Meanwhile, Kraken and others have also launched trading pairs for US stock tokens like AAPL, TSLA, NVDA, sparking a wave of on-chain stock trading.
But is it really a new concept?
In fact, this seemingly sudden wave of tokenization is backed by seven years of asset on-chain evolution in the crypto world — from early synthetic asset experiments, to the real landing of stablecoins, to the structured access of RWA (real-world assets), the narrative of 'assets × blockchain' has never been interrupted, but is now ushering in a more realistic and institutionalized reboot.
01. The tokenization of US stocks: old wine in a new bottle
On the surface, stock tokenization seems to be a new windfall in the Web3 world, but it is more like a resurgence of an old narrative.
Users who have experienced the previous round of on-chain prosperity should remember the complete set of synthetic asset mechanisms pioneered by projects like Synthetix and Mirror, where users can mint 'synthetic assets' (such as sAAPL, mTSLA) on-chain, pegged to US stocks, fiat currencies, indices, or even commodities, through over-collateralization of native crypto assets (like SNX, UST), achieving an asset trading experience without intermediaries.
The biggest advantage of this model lies in the absence of real asset custody and clearing, no counterparty matching, infinite depth, and zero slippage experience. However, ideals are rich, but reality is stark — oracle distortion, extreme asset volatility, frequent systemic risks, coupled with a lack of real regulatory alignment, have led to the gradual exit of this 'synthetic asset' from the historical stage.
Now, the wave of US stock tokenization is akin to moving from 'asset synthesis' to 'real stock mapping,' marking the entry of the tokenization narrative into a new stage of 'off-chain real asset docking.'
Taking the US stock token trading products launched by Robinhood as an example, from the disclosed information, it reveals the reconstruction of the on-chain channel and settlement structure of real stock assets, namely real stock custody, with funds flowing into US stocks through compliant brokerages.
Objectively speaking, although the US stock tokenization under this model still faces many challenges in compliance pathways and cross-border operations, it is a brand new on-chain investment window for users.
No need to open an account, no identity verification, no geographical restrictions; with just a crypto wallet and a stablecoin, one can bypass the cumbersome processes of traditional brokerages and trade US stock tokens directly on DEX, achieving 24/7 trading, second-level settlement, and global borderless access. This experience is unparalleled for global investors, especially non-US residents, compared to traditional securities systems.
The establishment of this logic relies on the ability of blockchain as a 'settlement + asset certification' infrastructure, and reflects a huge leap from technical experimentation to actual user applications in tokenization.
Furthermore, from a more macro perspective, 'US stock tokenization' is merely a subset of the RWA (real-world assets) tokenization process. What it reflects is the continuous evolution of the asset on-chain narrative from token issuance to synthetic assets, and then to RWA anchoring since the concept of tokenization emerged in 2017.
02. The past and present of tokenization
Looking back at the development context of tokenization, it is not difficult to find that it has almost run through the core main line of every round of infrastructure innovation and narrative evolution in the crypto world.
It can be said that from the 'token issuance frenzy' in 2017 to the 'DeFi Summer' in 2020, and then to the recent 'RWA narrative' and the latest 'US stock tokenization', a relatively clear path of on-chain asset evolution can be outlined.
Among them, the earliest large-scale practice of tokenization began with the token issuance frenzy in 2017, when the idea of 'tokens as equity' ignited the financing imagination of countless entrepreneurial projects, and Ethereum provided low-threshold issuance and fundraising tools, making tokens a digital certificate representing future rights (equity, usage rights, governance rights).
However, in the absence of a clear regulatory framework, lacking value capture mechanisms, and with serious information asymmetry, many projects have degenerated into bubble coins, ultimately withdrawing as the bull market recedes.
The time has come to 2020, when the explosion of DeFi marked the second peak of tokenization applications.
A series of on-chain native financial protocols represented by Aave, MakerDAO, and Compound have built a complete set of permissionless, censorship-resistant financial systems using on-chain native assets like ETH, allowing users to complete complex financial operations such as lending, staking, trading, and leveraging on-chain.
In this stage, the token is no longer a financing certificate, but has evolved into a core asset class of on-chain financial instruments, such as wrapped assets (WBTC), synthetic assets (sUSD), and interest-bearing assets (stETH). Even MakerDAO has begun to accept real-world assets such as real estate as collateral to better integrate traditional finance and DeFi.
The restart of tokenization is marked by this watershed, beginning to attempt to introduce more stable and larger-scale real-world assets.
Therefore, starting from 2021, the narrative has further upgraded, with protocols like MakerDAO beginning to attempt to incorporate real estate, national bonds, gold, and other real-world assets (RWA) as underlying collateral. The definition of tokenization has expanded from 'tokenizing native assets' to 'tokenizing off-chain assets.'
Unlike the abstract assets anchored by code in the past, RWA represents the on-chain certification, splitting, and circulation of real assets anchored by physical assets or legal rights. Because they have relatively stable values, clear valuation standards, and mature compliance experience, they also bring 'value anchors' with more realistic support to on-chain finance.
According to the latest data from the RWA research platform rwa.xyz, the total market size of RWA currently exceeds $25 billion, while BlackRock's forecast is even more optimistic, predicting that by 2030, the market value of tokenized assets will reach $10 trillion, which means that the potential growth space in the next seven years could be more than 40 times.
So next, which real-world assets will be tokenized first, becoming the on-chain financialization anchor for RWA?
03. Who will be the bridgehead of tokenization?
It is no exaggeration to say that in the past five years, the most successful tokenization products have been neither gold nor stocks, but — stablecoins.
It is the first tokenized asset that truly finds the 'product-market fit (PMF)': mapping cash, the most basic and liquid asset, into the on-chain world, and building the first 'value bridge' connecting TradFi and DeFi.
Its operational logic is also highly representative; real assets (such as dollars or short-term national bonds) are held off-chain by banks or custodians, and equivalent tokens (like USDT, USDC) are issued on-chain, allowing users to hold, pay, trade, or interact with DeFi protocols through a crypto wallet.
This not only inherits the stability of fiat currency, but also fully unleashes the advantages of blockchain: efficient settlement, low-cost transfers, 24/7 trading capability, and seamless integration with smart contracts.
As of now, the total market value of global stablecoins has exceeded $250 billion, indicating that the true landing of tokenization depends on whether it has solved the real-world issues of asset circulation and trading efficiency, rather than merely relying on technological innovation itself.
Today, US stock tokenization seems to be becoming the next focal point for tokenized assets.
Moreover, unlike the previous synthetic asset models relying on oracles and algorithms, today's 'real stock token' solutions are increasingly approaching real financial infrastructure, gradually exploring a standard path of 'real stock custody + on-chain mapping + decentralized trading.'
A noteworthy trend is that mainstream players, including Robinhood, are successively announcing the launch of native chains or self-developed chains, supporting on-chain real stock trading functions. Based on the currently disclosed information, the underlying technology partners for these tokenization paths are mostly still based on the Ethereum ecosystem (such as Arbitrum), which undoubtedly reaffirms Ethereum's core position as the infrastructure for tokenization.
The reason is that Ethereum not only has a mature smart contract system, a large developer community, and rich asset compatibility standards, but more importantly, its neutrality, openness, and composability provide the most scalable soil for financial asset mapping.
Overall, if the previous rounds of tokenization were driven by crypto financial experiments led by Web3 native projects, this time, it feels more like a professional reconstruction led by TradFi — bringing real assets, real regulatory compliance needs, and global market demands.
Is this the true beginning of tokenization?
