The tokenized public equities sector has reached a significant milestone, surpassing $1 billion in total value according to data from RWA.xyz. As of March 10, the sector stands at $1.03 billion, with Ondo leading the market with $604.5 million (58.56% share) and xStocks holding second place at $245.8 million (23.81% share).
This growth represents a paradigm shift in how traditional financial assets are being integrated into blockchain ecosystems. Castle Labs, a research and advisory firm, argues that tokenized equities are evolving from niche experiments to institutional-grade infrastructure. The firm highlighted three key platforms driving this transformation: Ondo, xStocks, and Hyperliquid.
Ondo represents the institutional flank of this shift, founded by former Wall Street operators who spent years refining tokenized Treasury products before expanding into equities. Their model uses indirect tokenization where an offshore special-purpose vehicle purchases and holds underlying shares through a US-registered broker-dealer, with onchain tokens representing structured claims on that collateral.
xStocks, launched by Backed Finance and later acquired by Kraken, offers tokenized equities and ETFs across multiple blockchains with regulatory footprints spanning Jersey, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Their tokens are tracker certificates backed one-for-one by securities held in segregated accounts, with a swap engine called xChange linking decentralized exchanges with traditional market hours.
Hyperliquid takes a different approach with its HIP-3 protocol, allowing builders who stake HYPE tokens to launch perpetual futures markets on virtually any asset with a price feed. This architecture enables 24/7 trading of synthetic contracts settled in stablecoins, with tokenized oil seeing over $1 billion in trading volume during recent geopolitical turmoil as traders sought weekend hedges unavailable on traditional exchanges.
The broader tokenized equities segment has shown impressive metrics beyond just total value, posting $1.82 billion in monthly transfer volume and attracting 187,900 holders, indicating growth is being driven by deeper market participation rather than just headline issuance.
This acceleration has caught the attention of major financial institutions. In January, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink called for the financial system to run on "one common blockchain" during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, stating it would reduce fees, increase democratization, and potentially reduce corruption.
The practical appeal of tokenization lies in 24/7 trading capabilities that allow traders to short Tesla shares at midnight, borrow against Nvidia without a brokerage account, trade pre-IPO exposure, or earn yield on collateral in DeFi vaults - capabilities unavailable in traditional markets.
