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The market for tokenized equities has exploded by 2,800% in a single year

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Coinbase (COIN), Circle (CRCL) and Bullish (BLSH) among crypto names sharply lower as BTC tumbles

Tokenized equities are approaching the $1 billion mark, underscoring how real-world asset (RWA) tokenization is moving beyond pilots and into a fast-developing segment of crypto market infrastructure.

A new report from Sentora and DL Research found that tokenized stocks reached roughly $963 million in market value as of January 2026, representing a year-on-year increase of nearly 2,878% from just $32 million a year earlier.

The rise reflects growing demand for blockchain-based access to traditional financial assets, as firms increasingly explore tokenization as a way to improve settlement efficiency, broaden market access and build always-on financial products. Tokenized equities, in particular, have become one of the most visible examples of RWAs expanding beyond private credit and Treasury bills into more mainstream instruments.

Still, the market remains highly concentrated. The report shows Ondo Global Markets holds the largest share, accounting for more than half of the tokenized equity value, with xStocks and Securitize representing most of the remainder.

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The dominance of a few issuers highlights both the sector’s early-stage nature and the importance of regulated issuance frameworks.

Much of the momentum has been driven by improvements in institutional rails. While Ethereum remains the primary settlement layer for tokenized equities, other chains such as Solana are gaining traction as platforms seek cheaper, faster transaction environments.

Regulatory developments in the U.S. also appear to be helping shape the next phase of growth. The report points to December 2025 as a key period, citing new SEC guidance on broker-dealer custody and a DTCC no-action letter tied to a tokenization pilot, both of which signal increased engagement from traditional market infrastructure providers.

With tokenized equities nearing $1 billion, the sector is emerging as a bellwether for how quickly RWAs can scale — and how much institutional adoption may hinge on regulation, custody and market structure catching up with blockchain innovation.

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Crypto World

SEC Chair Explains Why NFTs Aren’t Securities

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SEC Chair Explains Why NFTs Aren’t Securities

After the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) outlined four broad categories of digital assets that fall outside securities laws, Chair Paul Atkins offered further clarity on why nonfungible tokens (NFTs) generally do not meet that definition.

In a Wednesday interview with CNBC, Atkins reiterated that the agency’s recent interpretive release identified four types of digital assets that are typically not considered securities: digital commodities, digital tools, digital collectibles such as NFTs, and stablecoins.

During the interview, host Andrew Ross Sorkin pressed Atkins on digital collectibles, noting they could more easily resemble securities depending on how they are structured.

“Well, that’s true with anything,” Atkins replied, emphasizing that the SEC’s analysis still hinges on the facts and circumstances of each asset, particularly whether it involves an investment contract under longstanding legal precedent.

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Atkins said digital collectibles are generally treated as items that are bought and held, similar to physical collectibles, rather than as investment contracts — the defining feature of securities.

“Some of these collectibles, like a baseball card, a meme or one of those memecoins, NFTs — those are something that somebody buys,” he said. “It’s an immutable purchase… it’s not something like another asset where people are trading it.”

Paul Atkins appears on CNBC. Source: CNBC

Related: SEC chair Paul Atkins floats ‘safe harbor’ exemptions for crypto

SEC continues to move away from enforcement-led crypto policy

The securities regulator has recalibrated its approach to digital assets under Atkins, a shift that has coincided with the arrival of a more crypto-friendly Trump administration in early 2025.

“We’re breaking with the past,” Atkins said during the CNBC interview, describing the SEC’s push to provide clearer guidance and a more predictable regulatory framework for the digital asset sector.

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Last year, Atkins criticized the agency’s previous reliance on “regulation through enforcement” and pledged to move away from that approach. He also pointed to tokenization as a key innovation that regulators should support rather than restrict.

He has since reiterated that past regulatory missteps have left the United States lagging behind in crypto development by as much as a decade, and has vowed to reverse that trend.

Related: CFTC issues ‘no-action’ letter for crypto wallet provider Phantom

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