Author: Kokii
Original Title: Pilot Exceeds Demand, the Future Path of US Stock Tokenization
Why Stock Tokenization is Struggling
To understand the dilemma of stock tokenization, one must first look at the key to successful RWA/offline asset on-chain. Whether it's government bonds, funds, stocks, private credit, or even intellectual property, the essence is simply holding physical assets offline and issuing a set of Tokens on-chain, which is no different from launching a memecoin in terms of technical barriers.
However, all project parties must return to four core questions: Why issue? How to issue? How to sell? How to use? Without solving these problems, RWA will be like most memecoins, lacking actual demand and liquidity.
Taking the currently most successful RWA product category, tokenized US Treasury/money market funds as an example, government bonds as a simple rights, standardized debt instrument with predictable cash flow, its tokenization core has gone through three steps: finding real demand, establishing a compliant issuance framework, and building token utility:
Why issue: Institutional investors [Crypto VC/Fund] have many idle stablecoins on-chain and need a risk-free interest-bearing scenario
How to issue: Fund-fund manager architecture, where tokens legally represent fund shares, the fund is responsible for token issuance and asset holding, fund managers make investment decisions, both fund and fund managers need compliant licensing, and require institutional-level services like custodians, audits, and transparency reports
How to sell: Only qualified investors after KYC/AML can buy, 7*24
How to use: Token derivative utility, supported by mainstream DeFi, can be used as collateral to borrow stablecoins, with some centralized exchanges starting to support it as collateral
Stocks, as a complex rights certificate (including governance rights) with uncertain cash flow, must overcome significant operational and compliance barriers in their tokenization.
[The rest of the translation follows the same professional and precise approach, maintaining the original structure and technical terminology.]Market-making risk: During the suspension of the target stock market (such as weekends), market makers cannot hedge risks and must widen spreads or withdraw liquidity, leading to low reliability and cost-effectiveness of 24/7 trading
Incomplete rights: Both current models make significant compromises on core shareholder rights. Holders only obtain the economic benefits of stocks, while voting and other corporate governance rights are intercepted and handled by the issuer (SPV or Robinhood), with limited functions compared to mature tools like ADRs
Future Path
Despite the harsh reality, the true significance of this "pilot" lies in exploring future possibilities. The future of tokenized stocks depends on its ultimate positioning in the entire financial ecosystem.
Path A: Mainstreaming and infrastructure. If global mainstream regulatory frameworks mature and become clear, stablecoins flow into thousands of households, and major financial institutions place a certain amount of assets on-chain, issuers will gradually evolve into traditional financial giants like JPMorgan and Bank of New York Mellon. At that time, stock tokens will become a more powerful "composable super ADR". Blockchain will become the unified settlement layer for global equity markets, integrated into various DeFi protocols, with companies going public directly through STO issuance on-chain
Path B: Offshore and emerging asset platforms. If mainstream regulation continues to tighten, the crypto world may evolve into an efficient offshore innovation center. At that time, tokenization will no longer seek to compete with NYSE in trading Apple stocks, but will turn into a "first launch platform" for new or illiquid assets, such as private equity of Pre-IPO companies, share transfers of VC funds, or even securitization of future income streams of intellectual property
The current immaturity of tokenized stocks is not a sign of failure, but an early necessary stage of infrastructure construction. The measure of its success should not be whether it can provide a better Apple stock trading experience today, but what new markets and financial behaviors it creates for tomorrow. For all market participants, understanding this is the key to seizing the initiative in the upcoming financial revolution.
