Over the past two years, growth in the Real-World Assets (RWA) sector has been largely driven by U.S. Treasuries, money market funds (MMFs), and yield-bearing stablecoins. The rapid expansion of products such as BlackRock's BUIDL, Franklin Templeton's BENJI, and Ondo has made tokenized Treasuries the largest on-chain real-world asset category today.
As the market enters 2026, however, investor attention is shifting. With the on-chain Treasury market gradually maturing, institutions are beginning to search for larger, more liquid, and more broadly applicable asset classes. Equities have naturally emerged as the next frontier. Against this backdrop, Tokenized Stocks have quickly become one of the most prominent new narratives within the RWA space.
From a market-size perspective, the growth of tokenized equities has already exceeded expectations. According to CoinGecko's latest RWA Report 2026, the Tokenized Stocks market has expanded from approximately $2 million in mid-2025 to around $487 million as of March 2026. During the first quarter of 2026 alone, spot trading volume for tokenized stocks reached $15.1 billion, surpassing the entire second-half 2025 trading volume of $14.8 billion.
This growth reflects more than just investor interest in a new asset class. It signals that global capital markets are gradually embracing the broader trend of securities moving on-chain.
Historically, the RWA narrative has been centered on relatively illiquid assets such as real estate, bonds, and private credit. The emergence of Tokenized Stocks marks blockchain's entry into one of the largest and most active segments of traditional finance—the equity market. Compared with other asset classes, stocks benefit from a significantly larger investor base, higher trading frequency, and stronger global recognition. As a result, the impact of equity tokenization extends far beyond that of conventional RWA products.
One of the primary drivers behind this trend is Ondo Finance. While Ondo was previously viewed mainly as an on-chain Treasury protocol, the launch of Ondo Global Markets represents a strategic expansion beyond Treasury products. The platform now provides access to more than 200 U.S. stocks and ETFs, with additional listings continuously being added. Ondo is working toward building a global financial marketplace that integrates tokenized stocks, ETFs, bonds, and yield-generating assets, increasingly positioning itself as both an on-chain brokerage and digital asset management platform.
At the same time, traditional trading platforms such as Robinhood and Kraken are accelerating their efforts in securities tokenization. Robinhood has launched tokenized versions of multiple U.S. stocks and ETFs, offering extended 24/5 trading access. Kraken, through its xStocks initiative, has actively promoted on-chain securities trading. Since its launch in June 2025, cumulative trading volume has exceeded $25 billion, with more than $3.5 billion conducted directly on-chain.
These developments demonstrate that tokenized equities are no longer merely experimental products within the crypto-native ecosystem. Instead, they are becoming increasingly integrated into mainstream brokerage and trading infrastructures.
For cryptocurrency exchanges, the significance of Tokenized Stocks deserves particular attention. Historically, exchanges have focused primarily on spot trading, derivatives, and digital assets. Tokenized equities now offer a pathway into traditional financial markets.
Compared with conventional brokerages, crypto exchanges possess natural advantages in global user reach, around-the-clock operations, and seamless on-chain asset transfers. Consequently, the greatest opportunity may not lie in listing additional RWA products, but rather in building the liquidity infrastructure surrounding Tokenized Stocks. This includes on-chain equity spot markets, compliant trading venues, ETF and index products, stock-backed lending markets, RWA market-making ecosystems, and cross-market liquidity aggregation.
In this context, BitMart's strategy provides a notable example. In early 2026, BitMart released its Tokenized Stocks Trading Guide, formally introducing educational resources and trading access for tokenized equities to its global user base. Around the same time, BitMart published its State of Real-World Assets (RWA) research series, focusing on RWA development, tokenized securities, stablecoin regulation, and the institutionalization of finance.
Unlike many platforms that primarily focus on asset issuance, BitMart places greater emphasis on trading infrastructure, liquidity development, and global compliance frameworks. The company argues that future competition will not be determined solely by who can tokenize assets, but by who can provide liquidity, trading venues, and global distribution capabilities for on-chain assets.
From a broader perspective, the rise of Tokenized Stocks is beginning to reshape the infrastructure of global securities markets.
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has announced plans to launch a securities tokenization pilot program in July 2026, followed by a full rollout in October 2026. The initiative will cover Russell 1000 constituent stocks, high-volume ETFs, and U.S. Treasuries. More than 50 institutions have already joined the industry working group.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reportedly issued a no-action letter to DTCC, providing a three-year regulatory framework for tokenized securities. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is also developing an on-chain platform capable of supporting 24/7 trading of tokenized stocks and ETFs and is currently seeking regulatory approval.
These developments suggest that the migration of securities markets onto blockchain networks is no longer merely a vision held by the crypto industry. It is increasingly becoming a strategic priority within the traditional financial system itself.
Over the coming years, as regulatory frameworks mature, trading platforms continue to expand, and institutional capital enters the market, Tokenized Stocks are likely to become one of the most important growth drivers within the RWA sector, following stablecoins and tokenized Treasuries.
The industry is evolving from simple asset tokenization toward the broader on-chain transformation of capital markets. Tokenized Stocks are poised to become one of the most representative and influential sectors in this transition.