A new wave of tokenization is transforming traditional finance, moving stocks, bonds, and commodities onto the blockchain to enable 24/7 trading and unlock new use cases. This shift, driven by major players like BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Robinhood, promises to reshape how investors access and use real-world assets.
The Shift from Concept to Reality
For years, asset tokenization remained a theoretical idea. Now, it is gaining real traction. BlackRock's CEO Larry Fink once compared traditional finance to sending a letter by post, with tokenization being email. Today, BlackRock's BUIDL fund offers tokens backed by cash and short-term Treasuries, yielding returns paid in new tokens. Franklin Templeton's BENJI fund also operates on-chain, expanding to support trading and collateral financing with banks and digital asset platforms.
Robinhood has taken tokenization mainstream by offering over 200 tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs to EU users, including NVIDIA and Apple, with 24/5 trading. This move bridges the gap between crypto and traditional markets, allowing users to trade familiar assets in a crypto-friendly environment.
The Appeal of 24/7 Markets
Hyperliquid has demonstrated strong demand for round-the-clock trading through its perpetual contracts, which are synthetic assets that bypass custody and regulatory hurdles. This success has spurred exploration of other on-chain market structures, such as options. Synapse Protocol is building an options trading layer where traders can use perpetual contract positions as margin. Ondo Finance extends this model to public markets, offering tokenized stocks and ETFs with 24/7 leverage via its Ondo Perps system.
The key challenge is no longer whether assets can be tokenized, but how to retain users. Tokenized assets need sufficient liquidity and diverse use cases, like lending or collateral, to encourage long-term holding.
Stocks as Consumer-Friendly Tokens
Stocks like NVIDIA, Tesla, and Apple are natural candidates for tokenization due to their broad recognition. Bitget's "Stock 2.0" offers rNVDA and rTSLA tokens via its compliant RWA protocol, directly linked to Nasdaq and NYSE liquidity. These tokens sit in crypto accounts, allowing users to trade alongside spot, margin, and derivatives, with dividends auto-converted to USDT.
On Solana, the RWA ecosystem has seen over $3.5 billion in cumulative trading volume within six months, driven by protocols like Sunrise. The SPDX token, representing SpaceX stock, recorded $50 million in trading volume across 51 markets in its first 24 hours. This shows how tokenization can streamline asset issuance and trading, though sustained demand remains the ultimate test.
Commodities: Bridging Institutions and Retail
Commodities sit between institutional-focused assets like Treasuries and retail-friendly stocks. Gold, with its global liquidity and uniform pricing, is a prime candidate. Most tokenized gold products simply offer digital custody, but GLDY adds a yield layer by lending physical gold to industry participants. Each GLDY token represents one ounce of gold, with returns paid in additional gold from leasing activities.
As of Q1 2026, GLDY had $14 million in assets under management and distributed 10.48 ounces of gold in dividends. The product is supported by Orca for secondary trading, Wintermute for market making, and Chainlink for reserve verification. Partnerships with Siebert Financial and tZERO open access to traditional wealth management clients, expanding beyond crypto-native users.
The ultimate question for all tokenized assets is whether they will be used beyond initial issuance. Will traders continue using tokenized stocks after market close? Will gold tokens serve as collateral or be integrated into other financial products? If these use cases develop, tokenization could become the new standard for asset ownership and trading.
The Road Ahead
Five years ago, the debate was whether traditional institutions would adopt public blockchains. Today, many have already done so. As tokenization matures, the focus shifts from the assets themselves to the ecosystems built around them. The core value lies not in the token, but in the complete market infrastructure—trading, lending, and yield generation—that makes these assets truly useful. If this trend continues, all assets may eventually become tokenized, operating on a 24/7, frictionless global market.