Main Takeaways

  • Tokenized equities AUM has reached an all-time high of $4.8B, growing 164% between June and early November, according to Binance Research.

  • bStocks passed $1.5B in AUM in 145 days, making it the largest tokenized equities issuer by AUM. 

  • Adoption spans generations and regions. Gen Z makes up 46% of bStocks users, Millennials account for 78% of trading value, and emerging and frontier markets generate about 70% of volume.

The tokenized equities market sits at an all-time high of $4.8B in assets under management (AUM). Within that market, bStocks is the largest issuer by AUM, having surpassed $1.5B. The sections below look at how the market reached this point, who is using bStocks, and how users can check what backs each token.

A Brief History of Tokenized Equities

Today’s tokenized equities build on years of groundwork, from early pilots to a regulated market traded by millions of users worldwide.

2019-2021: Proof of Concept

The first wave of tokenized assets was proof-of-concept work. Franklin Templeton launched FOBXX, also known by its digital token BENJI. It was the first U.S.-registered mutual fund to record share ownership on a public blockchain. During the same period, Singapore's largest bank, DBS, settled its first S$15 million digital bond on its own regulated exchange.

2022-2024: Real-World Assets (RWA)

The second wave shifted toward yield-bearing real-world assets, led by tokenized U.S. Treasuries. Where FOBXX was a public fund open to retail investors, BlackRock brought its USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) onto blockchain networks as a private fund for qualified institutions. This made it one of the first institutional private funds to natively integrate into DeFi.

2025-2026: Mainstream Integration

The current wave has brought mainstream integration and more legal clarity. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a temporary five-year conditional exemption for tokenized securities venues, while South Korea’s official tokenized securities framework is set to take effect on February 4, 2027. 

Why Did Binance Integrate bStocks?

Our core product philosophy hasn’t changed since our founding as a digital asset exchange: we have always believed in expanding financial access worldwide. By giving users 1:1 exposure to stocks and ETFs through crypto technology, bStocks opens new pathways into traditional finance. 

Crypto-native users can diversify their exposure in a familiar format without needing a separate brokerage account, while traditional stock investors get a parallel market that stays open when Wall Street goes dark.

Who is Trading bStocks?

Data from Binance Research shows a diverse user base: roughly 56% of bStocks trading volume takes place outside regular U.S. market hours. Gen Z makes up 46% of users and trades more of its volume on weekends than any other group. Millennials hold positions the longest and account for 78% of trading value.

Users in emerging and frontier markets have generated roughly 70% of bStocks volume since launch. Many of them live in regions where U.S.-listed equities have historically been hard to access.

Are bStocks Backed 1:1?

Each token is backed 1:1 by real shares and ETFs held by a regulated custodian. Reserves are reconciled and published daily on our Proof of Collateral page, so holders can confirm their tokens are fully backed.

Final Thoughts

Tokenized equities are still a tiny fraction of traditional equities. In a market this young, our ranking  – while a welcome milestone – matters less than the direction of the entire category, which grew 81% between June and early November outside of bStocks.

We believe the way people hold and trade traditional assets may change significantly in the coming years, and we’ll continue to build and expand our bStocks offering and TradFi product suite with this, and our users, in mind.

Further Reading

Disclaimer: bStocks Tokenized Securities are classified as Certificates representing certain Financial Instruments (paragraph 92, Schedule 1 to FSMR). bStocks are not stocks or shares and bStocks do not allow holders to directly own a share or stock in the underlying listed company. bStocks do not represent any affiliation with the underlying asset's issuer.  bStocks are offered through an Approved Prospectus in the ADGM and are not offered in any other jurisdiction. No public offer is made outside of the ADGM. Tokenized securities are available only to eligible users in permitted jurisdictions on a secondary market basis only. It is your sole responsibility to ensure that accessing and trading tokenized securities is lawful in your jurisdiction before proceeding. Accessing this product from a jurisdiction in which it is prohibited or restricted does not create any liability or obligation on the part of Binance. We may restrict, suspend, reject, cancel, or unwind access or transactions if we determine, in our sole discretion, that your access or transaction may breach applicable law, product restrictions, eligibility criteria, sanctions requirements, or the relevant offering documents. Tokenized securities may be held and transferred on-chain outside the CSD environment. The transfer of tokenized securities back into the CSD environment is subject to conditions and you may be unable to trade, redeem or otherwise deal with the tokenized securities within the CSD environment if such conditions are not fulfilled.

No information displayed in connection with tokenized securities is intended as an offer, solicitation, promotion, recommendation, or invitation to buy or sell securities in any jurisdiction. Tokenized securities are not offered, sold, distributed, made available, or accessible in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons. The tokenized securities have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 or any U.S. state securities laws and a public offering of bStocks will not be conducted in the United States or any other jurisdiction (other than the ADGM). By accessing this product, you represent and warrant that you are not a U.S. person, are not located in the United States, are not acting for the account or benefit of any U.S. person, and will not access, purchase, sell, transfer, redeem, or otherwise transact in tokenized securities from within the United States. For more information, see the Terms of Use, Exchange Rules, Exchange Procedures, relevant Prospectus (if applicable to you and understanding that the offer is only made in ADGM, no public offer is being made elsewhere and viewing the prospectus does not constitute an invitation or solicitation outside ADGM), bStocks Minting and Redemption Product Terms, Admission to Trading Notice and Risk Warning.