At the beginning of 2025, Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, one of the largest asset managers in the world, said that the issuance of tokens will be a $ 1T industry by the end of the decade. Almost a year later, billions worth of assets, mostly cash and US Treasuries, have been tokenized into leading chains, especially Ethereum.
Now, Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, one of the largest crypto exchanges that allows the trading of meme coins, thinks that the future is symbolic. Armstrong said tokenized stocks will be “huge,” pointing to a wave of blockchain-based versions of traditional stocks.
Despite these comments, Ethereum (ETH) and Polygon (POL) are not stable. POL was pinned below $0.20, down nearly 13% in the last 24 hours.
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Coinbase and Tokenized Stocks
These words come as a real-world commodity with a token that is quietly growing into one of the fastest-moving corners of crypto.
To date, stablecoins, which are digital currency tracking coins, especially the USD, continue to grow strongly.
As of early January, over $310Bn of stablecoins have been minted.
(Source: Coingecko)
At that time, token shares also gained momentum, until 2025.
Tokenization started in 2025.
At the beginning of the year we highlighted the $867 billion tokenization opportunity and that “now is the time to bring institutional-level RWAs onchain.”
This is exactly what Ondo achieved:
1. Introducing the largest stock platform with tokens
2.… pic.twitter.com/cihlm9JHS2— Ondo Finance (@OndoFinance) December 31, 2025
For starters, stocks are blockchain tokens that track the stocks of real companies like Apple or Tesla. Think of them as a digital receipt that goes on a blockchain instead of a stock exchange. You trade them with a crypto wallet, not a brokerage account.
Most importantly, tokenized shares trade 24/7, settle almost immediately, and can allow for small purchases. There are no waiting days for trades to clear.
Armstrong’s interest is not new.
Coinbase has pursued tokenized securities since 2021, betting that blockchains can move shares faster and cheaper than the legacy route.
Despite Donald Trump’s pro-crypto stance, Coinbase has been pushing hard, urging regulators to open up the idea of creating new trading products, including token shares.
In a February 2025 earnings call, Armstrong said these new crypto products “offer a lot of promise to consumers with the ability to trade 24/7.”
They also announced Coinbase Tokenize to institutions.
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The Rise and Rise of Symptoms
The token market is no longer a small niche.
As of January 12th, over $800M of public equity had been tokenized.
(Source:rwa.xyz)
As more stocks are sent to public chains and made available to traders, more platforms like Kraken, Bybit, KuCoin, and Robinhood are actively issuing them.
Robinhood now offers more than 200 token shares in Europe.
Galaxy Digital even tokenized 32,374 shares of its US stock in Solana, indicating that firms are going beyond artificial copies to attempt real shares.
In total, tokenized real-world assets such as stocks, bonds, and currencies are now over $375Bn across all blockchains.
That growth explains why Coinbase keeps talking about it in its 2026 vision.
If the token shares work as planned, access the changes first. Global investors can trade US stocks without US broker accounts.
Payment is immediate, not two business days.
Cost also matters. Blockchains cut the layers of middlemen. That can mean lower fees, especially for small businesses. For newcomers, that removes one point of friction when starting out.
For Coinbase, this opens up a new line of business beyond crypto trading. More products mean more fees.
Bullish as this is for crypto, regulators are watching closely.
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said token securities are still securities, even when they reside on the blockchain.
That means the rules still apply.
To counter this, some crypto platforms offer synthetic exposure without owning real shares. Others return tokens one-to-one. Depending on the caution, traders should check which one.
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