Ondo Finance has made a landmark move by launching tokenized versions of BlackRock's iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) and Micron (MU) shares under the Securities and Exchange Commission's third‑party custodial framework. This is the first time a third party has tokenized U.S.-listed securities on a public blockchain while fully operating within existing U.S. regulatory and market infrastructure. Previously, such products were only offered offshore or required direct issuer sponsorship.
The launch follows the SEC's January guidance on tokenized securities, which described a structure where a third party holds the underlying securities and issues crypto assets representing investor entitlements. Ondo's implementation uses Oasis Pro TA, its SEC‑registered transfer agent subsidiary, to mint tokens backed 1:1 by the underlying shares. These tokens are issued on Ethereum, held by regulated custodians, and grant holders the same shareholder rights and protections as traditional brokerage accounts, including on‑chain proxy voting via Broadridge's ProxyVote.com platform.
Ondo Finance CEO Ian De Bode stated, "Today's milestone shows we can tokenize securities in ways that meet both market and regulatory requirements, for U.S. and global investors, and provides a strong foundation for expanding access to on‑chain investments." The firm’s Global Markets platform outside the U.S. already supports over $1 billion in tokenized securities across more than 430 stocks and ETFs. In June, Ondo partnered with Exodus to launch Exodus Markets, offering access to over 200 tokenized stocks and ETFs on Solana.
The news propelled the ONDO token higher, with CoinMarketCap data showing an 8% gain in 24 hours as Bitcoin faced a fresh retracement. The rally comes after the token had spent more than a week in consolidation, pushing ONDO to around $0.33. Analyst commentary highlighted that Ondo’s integration with Uniswap across Ethereum and BNB Chain gives tokenized equities wide distribution, with over $20 billion in cumulative trading volume and more than 77,000 holders. Still, technical analysts warn that ONDO price must break key resistances at $0.36, $0.39, $0.43, and ultimately $0.49 before a full trend reversal can be confirmed.
