Tokenized Stocks Boom 395% but DeFi Usage Lags Behind

Tokenized stocks experienced a remarkable surge over the past year, but the market still faces significant hurdles in adoption. According to RedStone, the total on-chain value of tokenized stocks skyrocketed from $640 million to $3.16 billion between September 28, 2025, and September 28, 2026, marking a 395% year-on-year increase. Despite this growth, the report reveals that most tokenized stocks are not widely used in decentralized finance (DeFi). Only about 2.6% of the total supply is employed as lending collateral, with major contributions from platforms like Kamino, Jupiter Lend, and Lista DAO.

The report also highlights that traders are more inclined towards derivatives rather than lending or borrowing against tokenized assets. Binance recorded $342.9 billion in equity-linked perpetual volume in August 2026, dwarfing the trading volume of tokenized stocks. Additionally, 55% of tokenized stock trading occurs outside traditional market hours, indicating a shift in trading patterns. The market now includes around 4.04 million tokenized stockholders, each with an average balance of approximately $780.

Ownership concerns persist, as the three largest issuers control roughly 70% of the sector’s on-chain value, yet their tokens do not confer direct ownership of the underlying shares. Despite these risks, tokenized stocks have largely avoided major DeFi incidents, with the Edel Finance manipulation being a notable exception, resulting in losses between $353,000 and $403,000.

Regulatory approaches vary globally, with the US relying on SEC exemptions, while regions like Hong Kong, South Korea, and Abu Dhabi Global Market are adopting more regulator-led strategies. Hong Kong has already enabled 24/7 secondary trading for tokenized funds on licensed platforms, whereas South Korea anticipates broader access following its February 2027 registry launch.