Tokenized Stocks Surge Past $26 Billion in US Market Amid Intense Competition
The US market for tokenized stocks is gaining momentum as three major players - Robinhood, Kraken, and Coinbase - compete aggressively for dominance. The SEC has clarified that existing securities laws apply to tokenized instruments, providing regulatory clarity for market participants.
Robinhood launched over 200 tokenized stock and ETF tokens on the Arbitrum network in June 2025, followed by its own dedicated Ethereum Layer 2 chain for global trading access. Kraken acquired Backed Finance in December 2025 and partnered with Nasdaq to build a comprehensive tokenized equity infrastructure, surpassing $25 billion in total transaction volume.
Coinbase debuted four tokenized stocks - Apple, Nvidia, Meta, and Alphabet - on the Base network in August 2026, achieving over $1 billion in DEX volume within its first operational month. The SEC staff statement confirmed that tokenized securities remain fully subject to existing federal securities laws regardless of their issuance format or underlying blockchain technology.
Tokenized real-world assets grew from $6.6 billion to $26.4 billion, according to RWA.xyz, with the $26.4 billion figure recorded in March 2026. Vlad Tenev, Robinhood's chief executive, stated that 'tokenization is like a freight train. It cannot be stopped and will eventually eat the entire financial system.'