Regulators just said they were worried—so Coinbase pushed the risk forward one step
Last week, EU regulators pointed out that tokenized stocks are one of the risk transmission channels. This week, Coinbase CEO Armstrong announced: tokenized stocks are officially live, targeting the $7 trillion U.S. equities market.
The product has been running on the Base chain since August. Apple, Nvidia, Meta, and Google are leading the way. The underlying stocks are custody-held by Alpaca, with bankruptcy-remote protection and 1:1 settlement—this isn’t synthetic assets and has no debt structure. Dividends have been integrated, and voting rights are pending launch.
But the product is only available to eligible investors outside the United States. With the word “global” plastered on it, U.S. users can’t use it themselves—this is regulatory reality.
Binance and Kraken are also working on similar products. Binance’s bStocks reached a scale of over $100 million in just two months. Citigroup predicts that the tokenized securities market could reach $5.5 trillion in the 2030s.
When regulators just flagged the risk, the industry has already rolled out the products. Who gets ahead first—rules or products—will be clear over the next few months.
A reminder: “1:1 settlement” and “bankruptcy-remote protection” are currently all official statements and have not yet undergone real stress testing.
Last week, EU regulators pointed out that tokenized stocks are one of the risk transmission channels. This week, Coinbase CEO Armstrong announced: tokenized stocks are officially live, targeting the $7 trillion U.S. equities market.
The product has been running on the Base chain since August. Apple, Nvidia, Meta, and Google are leading the way. The underlying stocks are custody-held by Alpaca, with bankruptcy-remote protection and 1:1 settlement—this isn’t synthetic assets and has no debt structure. Dividends have been integrated, and voting rights are pending launch.
But the product is only available to eligible investors outside the United States. With the word “global” plastered on it, U.S. users can’t use it themselves—this is regulatory reality.
Binance and Kraken are also working on similar products. Binance’s bStocks reached a scale of over $100 million in just two months. Citigroup predicts that the tokenized securities market could reach $5.5 trillion in the 2030s.
When regulators just flagged the risk, the industry has already rolled out the products. Who gets ahead first—rules or products—will be clear over the next few months.
A reminder: “1:1 settlement” and “bankruptcy-remote protection” are currently all official statements and have not yet undergone real stress testing.