Tokenized securities are not automatically liquid, even when they trade around the clock, settle onchain and move between networks. That is the central warning from Bitfinex, which argues that investors still need counterparties, reliable pricing and a viable route back to cash or the underlying security.
The warning arrives as tokenized stock trading on decentralized exchanges reached $48.7 billion over the past year, an increase of 10,163.7% from the previous 12 months, according to data from Token Terminal. Uniswap led trading volume with $17.1 billion across v3 and v4 pools. Yet onchain data also showed that the distributed value of tokenized stocks was only about $3.20 billion as of October 3, while Binance Research estimated the broader onchain equities market at $4.43 billion as of September 15.
The gap between trading volume and underlying value highlights the liquidity question. Volume, market cap and holders are three different things, the report noted. Pantera Capital found that tokenized equity spot turnover was around 204.6% in June, but warned that high turnover can be driven by just a few heavily traded tokens. ETF-linked products accounted for 44.0% of trading by reference stock, followed by NVDA at 10.0% and SPCX at 7.3%. A single asset, QQQb, represented 28.9% of DEX volume.
Bitfinex pointed to DTCC’s upcoming tokenization service as an example of infrastructure that treats exit as part of the system. Institutions would be able to convert securities held at its depository into digital tokens and back, with DTC remaining the legal depository. Initial conversions are expected to run on Canton and DTCC’s private Besu network for approved wallets. In contrast, Hong Kong’s regulator has asked tokenized fund issuers to make best efforts to appoint one market maker per product and warned that thin trading could lead to large premiums or discounts to net asset value outside market hours.
The U.S. framework adds another complication. On September 17, the SEC issued a temporary Innovation Exemption allowing qualifying tokenized securities venues to trade tokenized NMS stocks through permissioned automated market makers without registering as exchanges. But pool prices can still diverge unless arbitrageurs close the gap, venues must halt when the primary stock exchange halts, and weekend trading lacks a live reference price. The exemption does not require tokens to be redeemable for conventionally held shares.
Derivatives showed even more activity than spot tokenized equities. Equity perpetuals on Hyperliquid and Lighter were worth about $67.8 billion in June, compared with only $4.2 million in tokenized-equity spot trades. Bitfinex said the tokenized commodities market has grown from $1.43 billion at the start of 2025 to more than $5 billion, led by gold. Long-term forecasts remain large: Citi projects a $5.5 trillion tokenized-asset market by 2030 in its base case, while the IMF warns that tokenization can create risks around the legal link between a token and the asset behind it. The next test, according to Bitfinex, is whether investors can exit at fair prices during weekends, stressed markets or periods when conventional liquidity is unavailable.
