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Tokenized Stocks Hit $37 Billion a Quarter: Who Offers Them and How They're Sold

Onchain trading in tokenized stocks and ETFs passed $37 billion in the third quarter of 2026, according to Dune. Here is who offers them, what buyers actually own, how regulators are responding and what that means for the way tokenized stocks are marketed.

By Sparx, Growth research team··7 min read

Key takeaways

  • Dune counted more than $37 billion in onchain trading of tokenized stocks and ETFs in the third quarter of 2026, with monthly volume up almost 18 times since January. Activity moved off Solana toward BNB Chain and the new Robinhood Chain.

  • Most tokenized stocks sold today give price exposure, not shareholder rights. Kraken's xStocks give holders creditor rights and are sold only outside the US. Robinhood's European stock tokens give economic exposure without legal ownership.

  • On 17 September 2026 the SEC opened a five-year exemption for permissioned onchain venues trading tokenized US stocks, on the condition that holders get the same rights as ordinary shareholders. That makes "what does the buyer own?" the central marketing question.

Tokenized stocks went from a niche experiment to a measurable market in 2026. Onchain trading in tokenized stocks and ETFs exceeded $37 billion in the third quarter, according to a Dune report covered by Bloomberg on 22 October 2026. Monthly volume was up nearly 18 times compared with January, PANews reported. Dune's count spans more than 200 venues on 12 chains.

That growth has drawn in brokers, exchanges and regulators at the same time. At AnkhLabs we work with teams marketing real-world assets onchain, and tokenized stocks are where the gap between what a product is and how it is described matters most. This guide covers the market, the main providers, the rules and the marketing lessons.

What are tokenized stocks?

A tokenized stock is a blockchain token whose value tracks a listed share or ETF. It can trade around the clock, be split into small fractions and move between wallets and apps like any other token. Those are the features that sell it.

What a buyer actually holds depends on the structure, and there are three broad kinds.

  • Backed tracker tokens. An issuer buys the real shares, holds them with a custodian and issues tokens against them. The token holder usually has a claim on the issuer, not on the company whose shares are held.

  • Exposure tokens. The token gives economic exposure to a share price, sometimes through a special purpose vehicle (a separate company set up to hold the asset), without legal ownership.

  • Native tokenized shares. The share itself is recorded onchain, with the same voting, dividend and liquidation rights as the traditional version. This is the model US regulators are now making room for.

Most of the volume today sits in the first two kinds. For a founder or marketer, the structure is not a footnote. It decides which words you can honestly use.

How big is the tokenized stock market in 2026?

The trading figures depend on who is counting. Dune's $37 billion covers spot trading across venues. A separate tally reported by TokenPost put tokenized equity volume on decentralized exchanges at about $50 billion in the quarter. That was around 9% of all spot trading on those exchanges, up from about 1% in the second quarter. The two numbers use different scopes and should not be added together.

The value of tokenized stocks held is far smaller than the trading. TokenPost put it at about $3.2 billion on 30 September 2026, up 86% from the end of the second quarter. That gap between high turnover and modest holdings tells you most activity is trading, not long-term investing.

Where the trading happens shifted fast. In the second quarter Solana held the large majority of tokenized equity volume. In the third quarter BNB Chain led with about $16.5 billion, according to TokenPost, followed by Robinhood Chain at about $13.7 billion and Solana at about $6.9 billion. Base had about $1.7 billion after Coinbase launched tokenized stocks there on 24 August. The most traded names were Nvidia at about $3.1 billion and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF at about $2.5 billion, with GameStop and AMC at about $700 million each.

Derivatives dwarf all of it. Perpetual futures on stocks, ETFs and equity indices on Hyperliquid reached $201 billion in the quarter, according to the same PANews report. We looked at how Hyperliquid built that position in our piece on Hyperliquid's growth strategy.

Who offers tokenized stocks?

Robinhood. Robinhood announced stock tokens for European customers on 30 June 2025, covering 200 stocks and ETFs on Arbitrum, CoinDesk reported. On 1 July 2026 it launched Robinhood Chain, its own network built on Arbitrum technology and settling to Ethereum. The tokens are issued by Robinhood Assets (Jersey) Limited and give economic exposure to the underlying shares without legal ownership, Crypto Briefing reported.

Kraken xStocks. xStocks were created by Backed, a tokenization firm that Kraken agreed to acquire in December 2025. At the time more than 60 tokenized stocks had been issued and volumes had passed $10 billion in six months, according to Ledger Insights. Each token is backed one for one by the underlying share. Holders have creditor rights rather than direct ownership, and xStocks are distributed only outside the United States. "Integrating Backed into Kraken strengthens the core architecture required for open and programmable capital markets," Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said.

Coinbase and others. Coinbase added tokenized stocks on its Base network in August 2026, and Binance ran trading incentives on some tokenized equities during the third quarter, TokenPost noted. Dune's count also includes Intercontinental Exchange's tokenized stock venue, a sign that traditional market operators are now part of the same data set.


Robinhood stock tokens

Kraken xStocks

SEC-exempt venues (from 2026)

What the holder gets

Economic exposure, no legal ownership

Creditor claim on the issuer, backed 1:1 by shares

Same rights as ordinary shares, including dividends and votes

Who can buy

Eligible customers in Europe at launch

Users outside the US

Permissioned, allowlisted participants

Where it trades

Robinhood app and Robinhood Chain

Kraken and onchain venues

Approved venues on public blockchains

Main marketing risk

Buyers assuming they own the company

Buyers assuming shareholder rights

Tight conditions and issuer opt-outs

Sources: CoinDesk, Crypto Briefing, Ledger Insights, Morgan Lewis. As of October 2026.

How are tokenized stocks regulated?

In the United States, the big change came on 17 September 2026. The SEC issued a five-year "Innovation Exemption" that runs to 17 September 2031. It lets qualifying tokenized securities venues trade tokenized US-listed stocks, which the rules call NMS stocks, without registering as exchanges, as Morgan Lewis summarised. The conditions are strict.

  • Trading is permissioned, for example by allowlisting wallet addresses, but must run on a public blockchain.

  • Holders must get "the same rights and privileges as traditional NMS stock of an equivalent class", including dividend, voting and liquidation rights.

  • When a third party tokenizes a company's shares, the company gets notice and 30 days to object, which bars trading.

  • Synthetic products that only track a share price are excluded, and there is no relief from the Investment Company Act, which complicates tokenized ETFs.

  • Venues must publish a notice that they are not registered with the SEC for these activities, and anti-fraud rules still apply in full.

In Europe, where most retail tokenized stocks are sold today, the warning has come from the markets regulator, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). ESMA executive director Natasha Cazenave said in September 2025 that tokens without real shareholder rights pose a "specific risk of investor misunderstanding", CryptoSlate reported. Our guide to the MiCA licence covers the crypto side of EU rules, but tokenized shares usually fall under securities law instead.

What went wrong with Robinhood's OpenAI tokens?

The clearest marketing lesson in this market came within days of Robinhood's European launch. As part of it, Robinhood ran a limited giveaway of tokens linked to OpenAI and SpaceX, two private companies. On 2 July 2025 OpenAI responded on X: "These 'OpenAI tokens' are not OpenAI equity. We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it."

A Robinhood spokesperson told CoinDesk the tokens "give retail investors indirect exposure to private markets" through its stake in a special purpose vehicle. That was likely accurate. But the name on the token implied a relationship that did not exist, and the company named had the bigger platform to correct it. Under the SEC's new exemption, a listed company can formally object to third-party tokenization of its shares on exempt venues, which blocks trading there. The lesson carries over to every market: never imply a relationship with a company that has not agreed to one.

How should tokenized stocks be marketed?

The products that last will be marketed on what they really are. Four principles follow from the market and the rules above.

  • Lead with the structure. Say "price exposure to Nvidia, backed 1:1 by shares held by our custodian" rather than "own Nvidia onchain". If the token carries no votes or dividends, say so on the product page, not only in the terms.

  • Sell the real advantages. Round-the-clock trading, fractions and use as collateral in other apps are genuine benefits. They do not need inflated ownership claims.

  • Respect geography in every channel. Robinhood's stock tokens launched for European customers and xStocks are distributed only outside the US. Campaigns, creator partnerships and ads need geo-targeting and clear eligibility lines, or the marketing itself becomes the compliance problem. Our guide to crypto KOL marketing covers how to brief creators on restricted products.

  • Be careful with incentives. Trading rewards can inflate volume that disappears when they stop. Report holders and repeat traders, not only headline volume.

These are the same rules we set out for the wider category in our article on RWA marketing, applied to the asset class where retail attention is highest.

What we'd tell a founder

If you are launching a tokenized stock product, or listing tokenized stocks inside a crypto app, start with the legal structure and write the marketing from it, not the other way round.

Build trust in public before you need it. For Propchain, a real-world asset and real estate tokenisation platform, our social media management delivered 100K+ follower growth. In regulated categories, a consistent, informative presence does more than launch hype.

Choose creators on credibility, not reach. For OKX Alpha, our KOL (key opinion leader) distribution supported a $500K public sale close with creators selected on trading credibility and audience quality rather than follower count. The same filter matters for stock tokens, where a trader's audience will test every claim. More examples are in our case studies, and our go-to-market strategy work covers launch sequencing for regulated products.

If you are planning a tokenized stock launch and want a second opinion on how to position it, talk to AnkhLabs.

The bottom line

Tokenized stocks now trade in the tens of billions each quarter, across crypto exchanges, a broker's own chain and venues run by traditional market operators. The US has opened a path for tokens that carry real shareholder rights, while most products sold today still offer exposure without ownership. The teams that win will be the ones that make that difference obvious to buyers, before a regulator or an unhappy company does it for them.

This article is for information only and is not investment or legal advice. Figures are as of 26 October 2026.

← Articles

Tokenized Stocks Hit $37 Billion a Quarter: Who Offers Them and How They're Sold

Onchain trading in tokenized stocks and ETFs passed $37 billion in the third quarter of 2026, according to Dune. Here is who offers them, what buyers actually own, how regulators are responding and what that means for the way tokenized stocks are marketed.

By Sparx, Growth research team··7 min read

Key takeaways

  • Dune counted more than $37 billion in onchain trading of tokenized stocks and ETFs in the third quarter of 2026, with monthly volume up almost 18 times since January. Activity moved off Solana toward BNB Chain and the new Robinhood Chain.

  • Most tokenized stocks sold today give price exposure, not shareholder rights. Kraken's xStocks give holders creditor rights and are sold only outside the US. Robinhood's European stock tokens give economic exposure without legal ownership.

  • On 17 September 2026 the SEC opened a five-year exemption for permissioned onchain venues trading tokenized US stocks, on the condition that holders get the same rights as ordinary shareholders. That makes "what does the buyer own?" the central marketing question.

Tokenized stocks went from a niche experiment to a measurable market in 2026. Onchain trading in tokenized stocks and ETFs exceeded $37 billion in the third quarter, according to a Dune report covered by Bloomberg on 22 October 2026. Monthly volume was up nearly 18 times compared with January, PANews reported. Dune's count spans more than 200 venues on 12 chains.

That growth has drawn in brokers, exchanges and regulators at the same time. At AnkhLabs we work with teams marketing real-world assets onchain, and tokenized stocks are where the gap between what a product is and how it is described matters most. This guide covers the market, the main providers, the rules and the marketing lessons.

What are tokenized stocks?

A tokenized stock is a blockchain token whose value tracks a listed share or ETF. It can trade around the clock, be split into small fractions and move between wallets and apps like any other token. Those are the features that sell it.

What a buyer actually holds depends on the structure, and there are three broad kinds.

  • Backed tracker tokens. An issuer buys the real shares, holds them with a custodian and issues tokens against them. The token holder usually has a claim on the issuer, not on the company whose shares are held.

  • Exposure tokens. The token gives economic exposure to a share price, sometimes through a special purpose vehicle (a separate company set up to hold the asset), without legal ownership.

  • Native tokenized shares. The share itself is recorded onchain, with the same voting, dividend and liquidation rights as the traditional version. This is the model US regulators are now making room for.

Most of the volume today sits in the first two kinds. For a founder or marketer, the structure is not a footnote. It decides which words you can honestly use.

How big is the tokenized stock market in 2026?

The trading figures depend on who is counting. Dune's $37 billion covers spot trading across venues. A separate tally reported by TokenPost put tokenized equity volume on decentralized exchanges at about $50 billion in the quarter. That was around 9% of all spot trading on those exchanges, up from about 1% in the second quarter. The two numbers use different scopes and should not be added together.

The value of tokenized stocks held is far smaller than the trading. TokenPost put it at about $3.2 billion on 30 September 2026, up 86% from the end of the second quarter. That gap between high turnover and modest holdings tells you most activity is trading, not long-term investing.

Where the trading happens shifted fast. In the second quarter Solana held the large majority of tokenized equity volume. In the third quarter BNB Chain led with about $16.5 billion, according to TokenPost, followed by Robinhood Chain at about $13.7 billion and Solana at about $6.9 billion. Base had about $1.7 billion after Coinbase launched tokenized stocks there on 24 August. The most traded names were Nvidia at about $3.1 billion and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF at about $2.5 billion, with GameStop and AMC at about $700 million each.

Derivatives dwarf all of it. Perpetual futures on stocks, ETFs and equity indices on Hyperliquid reached $201 billion in the quarter, according to the same PANews report. We looked at how Hyperliquid built that position in our piece on Hyperliquid's growth strategy.

Who offers tokenized stocks?

Robinhood. Robinhood announced stock tokens for European customers on 30 June 2025, covering 200 stocks and ETFs on Arbitrum, CoinDesk reported. On 1 July 2026 it launched Robinhood Chain, its own network built on Arbitrum technology and settling to Ethereum. The tokens are issued by Robinhood Assets (Jersey) Limited and give economic exposure to the underlying shares without legal ownership, Crypto Briefing reported.

Kraken xStocks. xStocks were created by Backed, a tokenization firm that Kraken agreed to acquire in December 2025. At the time more than 60 tokenized stocks had been issued and volumes had passed $10 billion in six months, according to Ledger Insights. Each token is backed one for one by the underlying share. Holders have creditor rights rather than direct ownership, and xStocks are distributed only outside the United States. "Integrating Backed into Kraken strengthens the core architecture required for open and programmable capital markets," Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said.

Coinbase and others. Coinbase added tokenized stocks on its Base network in August 2026, and Binance ran trading incentives on some tokenized equities during the third quarter, TokenPost noted. Dune's count also includes Intercontinental Exchange's tokenized stock venue, a sign that traditional market operators are now part of the same data set.


Robinhood stock tokens

Kraken xStocks

SEC-exempt venues (from 2026)

What the holder gets

Economic exposure, no legal ownership

Creditor claim on the issuer, backed 1:1 by shares

Same rights as ordinary shares, including dividends and votes

Who can buy

Eligible customers in Europe at launch

Users outside the US

Permissioned, allowlisted participants

Where it trades

Robinhood app and Robinhood Chain

Kraken and onchain venues

Approved venues on public blockchains

Main marketing risk

Buyers assuming they own the company

Buyers assuming shareholder rights

Tight conditions and issuer opt-outs

Sources: CoinDesk, Crypto Briefing, Ledger Insights, Morgan Lewis. As of October 2026.

How are tokenized stocks regulated?

In the United States, the big change came on 17 September 2026. The SEC issued a five-year "Innovation Exemption" that runs to 17 September 2031. It lets qualifying tokenized securities venues trade tokenized US-listed stocks, which the rules call NMS stocks, without registering as exchanges, as Morgan Lewis summarised. The conditions are strict.

  • Trading is permissioned, for example by allowlisting wallet addresses, but must run on a public blockchain.

  • Holders must get "the same rights and privileges as traditional NMS stock of an equivalent class", including dividend, voting and liquidation rights.

  • When a third party tokenizes a company's shares, the company gets notice and 30 days to object, which bars trading.

  • Synthetic products that only track a share price are excluded, and there is no relief from the Investment Company Act, which complicates tokenized ETFs.

  • Venues must publish a notice that they are not registered with the SEC for these activities, and anti-fraud rules still apply in full.

In Europe, where most retail tokenized stocks are sold today, the warning has come from the markets regulator, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). ESMA executive director Natasha Cazenave said in September 2025 that tokens without real shareholder rights pose a "specific risk of investor misunderstanding", CryptoSlate reported. Our guide to the MiCA licence covers the crypto side of EU rules, but tokenized shares usually fall under securities law instead.

What went wrong with Robinhood's OpenAI tokens?

The clearest marketing lesson in this market came within days of Robinhood's European launch. As part of it, Robinhood ran a limited giveaway of tokens linked to OpenAI and SpaceX, two private companies. On 2 July 2025 OpenAI responded on X: "These 'OpenAI tokens' are not OpenAI equity. We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it."

A Robinhood spokesperson told CoinDesk the tokens "give retail investors indirect exposure to private markets" through its stake in a special purpose vehicle. That was likely accurate. But the name on the token implied a relationship that did not exist, and the company named had the bigger platform to correct it. Under the SEC's new exemption, a listed company can formally object to third-party tokenization of its shares on exempt venues, which blocks trading there. The lesson carries over to every market: never imply a relationship with a company that has not agreed to one.

How should tokenized stocks be marketed?

The products that last will be marketed on what they really are. Four principles follow from the market and the rules above.

  • Lead with the structure. Say "price exposure to Nvidia, backed 1:1 by shares held by our custodian" rather than "own Nvidia onchain". If the token carries no votes or dividends, say so on the product page, not only in the terms.

  • Sell the real advantages. Round-the-clock trading, fractions and use as collateral in other apps are genuine benefits. They do not need inflated ownership claims.

  • Respect geography in every channel. Robinhood's stock tokens launched for European customers and xStocks are distributed only outside the US. Campaigns, creator partnerships and ads need geo-targeting and clear eligibility lines, or the marketing itself becomes the compliance problem. Our guide to crypto KOL marketing covers how to brief creators on restricted products.

  • Be careful with incentives. Trading rewards can inflate volume that disappears when they stop. Report holders and repeat traders, not only headline volume.

These are the same rules we set out for the wider category in our article on RWA marketing, applied to the asset class where retail attention is highest.

What we'd tell a founder

If you are launching a tokenized stock product, or listing tokenized stocks inside a crypto app, start with the legal structure and write the marketing from it, not the other way round.

Build trust in public before you need it. For Propchain, a real-world asset and real estate tokenisation platform, our social media management delivered 100K+ follower growth. In regulated categories, a consistent, informative presence does more than launch hype.

Choose creators on credibility, not reach. For OKX Alpha, our KOL (key opinion leader) distribution supported a $500K public sale close with creators selected on trading credibility and audience quality rather than follower count. The same filter matters for stock tokens, where a trader's audience will test every claim. More examples are in our case studies, and our go-to-market strategy work covers launch sequencing for regulated products.

If you are planning a tokenized stock launch and want a second opinion on how to position it, talk to AnkhLabs.

The bottom line

Tokenized stocks now trade in the tens of billions each quarter, across crypto exchanges, a broker's own chain and venues run by traditional market operators. The US has opened a path for tokens that carry real shareholder rights, while most products sold today still offer exposure without ownership. The teams that win will be the ones that make that difference obvious to buyers, before a regulator or an unhappy company does it for them.

This article is for information only and is not investment or legal advice. Figures are as of 26 October 2026.