So, guess what Kraken was up to on Monday? They were busy hanging out with the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force. And no, they weren’t just chatting about the latest crypto memes; this meeting was all about tokenizing traditional assets and creating a tokenized trading system.
What’s the Deal with Tokenized Stocks?
Kraken’s big meeting involved a crew of four from Payward, Inc., Kraken Securities LLC, and two legal eagles from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hales and Dorr LLP (yep, quite the mouthful, right?). They sat down with the SEC to talk about tokenized trading systems, how they’d be regulated, and, of course, how awesome they could be.
Now, this is happening at a time when the traditional finance folks and global regulators have been on the SEC’s case, saying they need to get stricter on tokenized stocks. Apparently, there are some concerns that these tokenized stocks don't offer the same investor protections that we get in the old-school stock market. I mean, we’ve all seen the chaos in crypto; who’s making sure things are safe?
Why Should We Care About Tokenized Stocks?
Here’s the thing: tokenized stocks don’t play by the same rules as traditional markets. They can be traded 24/7. That’s right, no waiting around for the stock market bell to ring; Kraken and Robinhood are offering these bad boys up to investors around the clock.
Kraken made a big announcement back in May that its tokenized stock service allows non-US investors to snap up US equities whenever they want. And just when you thought they couldn’t get more global, they dropped another bombshell on us, now Kraken’s offering tokenized stocks on the Tron blockchain. Gotta love the expansion!
Meanwhile, Robinhood wasn’t sitting still. They jumped in the tokenized stock game on June 30, offering them to users in the EU. Yep, they're spreading the tokenized stock love around the globe.
A Baby Step, But the Future is Huge
So, how big is this whole tokenized stock thing, really? Well, right now, it’s still in the early stages. Tokenized stocks currently have a total value of about $360 million, which, let’s be real, is a drop in the ocean compared to traditional stock markets. In fact, that's only about 1.35% of all Real World Assets (RWAs) that have been tokenized so far. But don’t get discouraged; there’s $26.5 billion worth of RWAs currently on-chain, and this whole tokenized stock idea is just getting started.
According to Binance research, tokenized stocks could eventually be worth a trillion dollars. Yep, if just 1% of the global equities market is tokenized, the sector could rocket to a $1.3 trillion market cap. That’s some serious potential!
Crypto vs. Stocks
Oh, and did you know? Kraken recently did a survey, and 65% of 1,000 US investors who are into both equities and crypto think crypto is going to outshine equities in the next decade. Yep, they believe crypto will have its day in the sun and leave the stock market in the dust.
Mark Greenberg, Kraken’s global head of Consumer Business, even said that tokenized stocks should be about more than just copying Wall Street on the blockchain. It’s all about accessibility, programmability, and global reach, basically making investing easier for everyone, everywhere.
Kristian Koch
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