Stock tokenization is emerging as the best narrative for the convergence of TradFi and Web3 in 2025.

Data from rwa.xyz shows that the scale of tokenized stock assets has surged from nearly zero to hundreds of millions of dollars this year, reflecting how stock tokenization is accelerating from concept to implementation—evolving from synthetic assets to real-stock custody models and extending into more advanced forms like derivatives.

The Past and Present of U.S. Stock Tokenization

Simply put, it involves mapping traditional stocks onto blockchain technology as digital tokens, where each token represents fractional ownership of the underlying asset. These tokens can be traded on-chain 24/7, breaking the time and geographical constraints of traditional stock markets and enabling seamless participation for global investors.

From the perspective of tokenization, U.S. stock tokenization is not a new concept (see related reading: Behind the "Stock Tokenization" Boom: The Evolution of Tokenization Narratives). After all, in the last cycle, projects like Synthetix and Mirror had already explored a complete set of on-chain synthetic asset mechanisms:

This model not only allowed users to mint and trade "tokenized U.S. stocks" like TSLA and AAPL through over-collateralization (e.g., using SNX or UST) but also extended to fiat currencies, indices, gold, crude oil, and almost any tradable asset. The reason is that synthetic assets track the underlying asset's price and are minted via over-collateralization.

For example, users could stake $500 worth of crypto assets (e.g., SNX or UST) to mint synthetic assets pegged to the price of real assets (e.g., mTSLA or sAAPL) and trade them. The entire mechanism relies on oracle pricing and on-chain contract matching, with no real counterparty, theoretically enabling infinite liquidity and zero slippage.

However, this model does not grant actual ownership of the corresponding stocks—it merely "bets" on price movements. This means that if the oracle fails or the collateral assets collapse (as Mirror did during UST’s crash), the entire system faces risks of liquidation imbalance, price depegging, and loss of user confidence.

The key difference in this wave of "U.S. stock tokenization" lies in the adoption of an underlying model of "real-stock custody + tokenized issuance." Currently, this model follows two main paths, with the core difference being whether the issuer holds regulatory compliance qualifications:

1. Third-party compliant issuance + multi-platform integration, represented by Backed Finance (xStocks) and MyStonks. MyStonks partners with Fidelity to achieve 1:1 pegging to real stocks, while xStocks purchases and custodies stocks through entities like Alpaca Securities LLC.

2. Licensed broker self-operated closed-loop, exemplified by Robinhood, which leverages its own brokerage license to complete the entire process from stock purchase to on-chain token issuance.

From this perspective, the key advantage of this stock tokenization wave is the verifiable authenticity of underlying assets, higher security and compliance, and greater acceptance by traditional financial institutions.