Tokenized Stocks Gain Ground as Crypto Listings Struggle

Exchanges expand tokenized stock access

Kraken offers more than 100 tokenized stocks and ETFs through its xStocks product, with 24/5 trading, $1 minimums and self-custody support. Kraken says xStocks provide price exposure without shareholder rights such as voting.

Robinhood EU lists more than 2,000 Stock Tokens linked to names including Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple and the Vanguard S&P 500, with €1 minimums and 24/5 access. Robinhood describes its Stock Tokens as derivative contracts that carry liquidity, currency and counterparty risks.

Coinbase offers stock and ETF trading inside the same app as crypto, with zero commission, USDC funding and $1 fractional shares for U.S. users. Coinbase’s longer-term plan is to make tokenized stocks available globally as on-chain collateral.

Tokenized stocks across all platforms held $1.48 billion in distributed value as of June 1, rising 39% over 30 days, with $4.2 billion in monthly transfer volume.

Binance Research said equity ownership outside the U.S. remains broadly below 20%, compared with 62% of Americans holding equities. Binance Research attributed the gap largely to infrastructure access.

Binance Research projected that crypto exchanges could channel $2 trillion in incremental capital and nearly 300 million new users into global equity markets by 2031 under a base-case scenario. Binance Research’s bull case rises to $5 trillion in annual incremental equity capital.

The access argument is tied to affordability and market reach. Some AI-cycle stocks traded above $1,000 per share during periods when average monthly wages in parts of Africa and Southern Asia were below $300, making full-share ownership difficult without fractional products.

Binance Research said stablecoins could remove an average of 3.6% and about $40 per transaction in cross-border off-ramp costs. Binance Research also said TradFi-linked perpetuals already account for roughly 10% of stablecoin trading volume.

The SEC warns that third-party and synthetic tokenized securities may not represent ownership of, or contractual obligations tied to, the underlying security. That could expose holders to issuer or custodian bankruptcy risk.

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Quant products outperform major crypto assets

Gate released its Private Wealth Management Report for May 2026, saying quantitative trading strategies were profitable even as Bitcoin and Ether declined during the month.

Gate said 90% of its quant-based fund strategies delivered profits in May 2026. Gate said Bitcoin dropped roughly 2.9% during the month, while Ether fell more than 11%.

Gate attributed the weaker crypto market backdrop to geopolitical risks, reduced speculation and a broader preference for U.S. equities, especially tech stocks. Gate said U.S. equities extended their rally during May, with the S&P 500 posting nine consecutive weekly gains through the end of the month, its longest streak since December 2023.

Gate’s private wealth division said its USDT-denominated hedging solution, Interstellar Hedging, was the standout quant product. Interstellar Hedging generated a total return of 18.6% and recorded profits across all 23 measurement periods, producing a stated 100% win rate.

Gate described quant-based strategies as approaches that rely on mathematical models, statistical analysis and computer algorithms to identify trading opportunities instead of depending on human intuition or manual research.

USDT strategy returns delivered an average return of 5.2%, according to Gate. Gate said maximum drawdowns in both USDT and BTC strategies were considerably lower than Bitcoin’s price decline during the same period.

Reuters cited Goldman Sachs as saying stock-picking hedge funds returned 5.35% in May, beating the MSCI Total Return Index’s 4.55% gain. Multi-strategy firms also posted gains, with Citadel returning 1.43% and Millennium Management returning 2.4%.

Stablecoin rules move toward implementation

Gate also highlighted stablecoin regulation as a developing market factor, saying implementation guidelines for the GENIUS Act are underway. Gate said the process is moving stablecoin regulation from a legislative framework toward practical enforcement.

The GENIUS Act was described as U.S. legislation passed in 2025 that establishes a regulatory framework for stablecoins, including state and federal issuance pathways and strict reserve requirements.

Reuters cited a study by Citi and Brookfield saying stablecoin circulation could grow by up to 15 times by 2030. The study said the largest gains could come from payment systems, custody services, compliance processes and settlement systems that underpin stablecoins.

Deloitte’s Banking and Capital Markets Outlook 2026 said payment stablecoins under the GENIUS Act could alter how deposits move and create competition for current payment systems. Deloitte said banks will need to understand their roles in issuance, custody, processing or partnerships tied to stablecoin offerings.