How Do We Make American Stocks Great Again?

In the digital age, as everything gradually moves onto the blockchain, U.S. equity tokenization is opening a new path for global finance — one where Wall Street is no longer bound by the opening bell at 9:30 a.m. New York time.

U.S. Stocks: A Global Dream

With a total market cap of $52–59 trillion, representing more than 40% of global equity market value, the U.S. stock market has long been a symbol of stability, growth, and belief in "American exceptionalism." A $10,000 investment in the S&P 500 back in 2002 would have grown to nearly $85,900 by 2025.

Yet accessing U.S. markets is far from simple for most of the world's population. Complex brokerage accounts, regulatory barriers, and trading hour restrictions have become invisible walls keeping millions of people on the sidelines.

Tokenization — Wall Street No Longer Needs a Bell

U.S. equity tokenization is the process of bringing traditional stocks onto the blockchain as programmable digital assets that can be traded 24/7, owned fractionally, and accessed without geographic restrictions. A single share can be split into thousands of pieces, letting anyone invest with just a few dollars and a smartphone.

These tokens typically follow the ERC-20 standard or equivalent, ensuring transparency and security. Unlike earlier speculative products such as sTSLA or sAAPL, today's projects — including Backed Finance, Ondo, Securitize, and Robinhood — operate on a 1:1 real-equity-to-token model with verified custody and compliance oversight.

Who's Leading This Wave?

Ondo Finance is accelerating rapidly, planning to launch equity tokens following its acquisitions of Oasis Pro and Strangelove, while partnering with Pantera Capital on a $250 million commitment to the space.
Robinhood became the first U.S. brokerage to issue equity tokens, covering more than 200 tickers including OpenAI and SpaceX. Despite fierce pushback from the very companies being tokenized, CEO Vlad Tenev remains firm: "Tokenization is how ordinary people get access to the best assets — without needing to be chosen."
Backed Finance, in partnership with Kraken, is bringing more than 50 equity tickers onto the blockchain, from Apple and Tesla to major ETFs.
Figma, in its latest IPO filing, has even laid the groundwork for issuing "blockchain shares" as a legitimate asset class.

Big Opportunity — But Real Challenges Too

According to data from rwa.xyz, by mid-2025 the total value locked (TVL) in tokenized equity products had reached $530 million, with more than 70,000 active wallets per month.

That said, the market still faces significant issues:

Extreme price volatility: AAPLX once traded 12% above the price of real Apple shares, while AMZNX was pushed to 100x its market price by a single small trade.
Legal conflicts: OpenAI and SpaceX have publicly disavowed the tokens Robinhood issued in their names, prompting intervention from the SEC and European central banking authorities.
Thin liquidity: Equity tokens remain highly susceptible to manipulation due to low trading volumes.
Regulatory and compliance hurdles: While the SEC has shown early signs of openness, KYC requirements, custody rules, and disclosure obligations remain major barriers preventing many projects from scaling globally.

The Future of Finance Is Borderless

Tokenizing U.S. equities is more than a technology trend. It's an effort to democratize financial markets and expand investment access to everyone, everywhere.

When you no longer need a brokerage account, when a few dollars can get you a slice of Apple or Tesla, when markets run 24/7 without pause — that's not just innovation. That's "global capital liberation."

The question is no longer whether it will happen, but when it becomes the norm.