Crypto exchange Coinbase has initiated the launch of a new financial product providing for the issuance of tokenized shares of American corporations on its own Base blockchain network. The solution is positioned by its developers as a digital equivalent of traditional securities. At the current stage, access to purchasing these assets is limited to accredited investors residing outside the United States. The specific list of jurisdictions in which the service is permitted has not been publicly disclosed by the company.
The new financial instruments are tokens created in accordance with the B20 standard. Each token is backed by real securities on a one-to-one basis. Coinbase representatives emphasize that holders of tokenized shares are granted full legal rights to the corresponding underlying assets. The custodian and broker functions in this structure are performed by Alpaca. This financial institution operates under the strict regulatory oversight of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), ensuring compliance with established financial security standards and investor protection requirements.
At the initial stage of the platform's operation, investors have access to tokenized versions of shares in four major technology companies: Apple (ticker AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA), Meta (META), and Alphabet (GOOGL). The integration of traditional securities into the Base blockchain ecosystem opens up additional use cases. In particular, such digital assets can be used as collateral when interacting with decentralized finance protocols. Furthermore, this format enables continuous trading 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, regardless of the user's geographic location and the operating hours of traditional stock exchanges.
Institutional and retail market participants' interest in integrating traditional assets into blockchain infrastructure is showing a steady upward trend. The first such proxy solution offering tokens pegged to securities held by a custodian was the Kraken platform. This direction subsequently gained further traction across the industry. Today, trading in tokenized stocks is also supported on the Binance platform and on Robinhood Chain, developed by the fintech company of the same name.
According to market data, the tokenized securities segment has demonstrated significant capitalization growth throughout 2026. Since the beginning of the current year, the total value of assets in this class has increased from $487.9 million to approximately $2 billion. On the technological side, BNB Chain and Ethereum hold dominant positions in this market, accounting for the majority of issued tokenized financial instruments.
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This material is prepared exclusively for informational purposes and does not constitute financial advice or a recommendation.