Tokenized Stocks Boom but DeFi Adoption Lags

The market for tokenized stocks experienced explosive growth over the past year, surging by 395% from $640 million to $3.16 billion between September 28, 2025, and September 28, 2026. Despite this rapid expansion, the adoption of these assets within decentralized finance (DeFi) remains surprisingly low, according to a report from RedStone. Only about 2.6% of the total supply is currently used as lending collateral, with most activity concentrated on platforms like Kamino, Jupiter Lend, and Lista DAO.

Traders appear to favor perpetual contracts over traditional DeFi lending. Binance alone recorded $342.9 billion in equity-linked perpetual volume in August 2026, dwarfing the trading volume of tokenized stocks. On September 28, equity perpetuals on decentralized exchanges had $3.3 billion in open interest, exceeding the entire tokenized stock supply. Additionally, around 55% of tokenized stock trading occurs outside regular market hours, with Sunday evening perp prices accurately predicting Monday’s opening direction 65% of the time.

The report highlights concerns about ownership and market concentration. The three largest issuers control roughly 70% of the sector’s on-chain value, yet their tokens do not grant holders direct ownership of the underlying shares. Despite these risks, tokenized stocks have largely avoided major incidents, with the Edel Finance manipulation being the primary exception, resulting in losses estimated between $353,000 and $403,000.

Regulatory approaches to tokenized stocks vary globally. The US relies on SEC exemptions and staff guidance, while regions like Hong Kong, South Korea, and Abu Dhabi Global Market are taking more regulator-led approaches. Hong Kong has already permitted 24/7 secondary trading for tokenized funds on licensed platforms, while South Korea plans to expand tokenized-stock access after a second phase following its February 2027 registry launch.