Today Coinbase announced it will be launching tokenized stocks with details available later today. This will enable 24/7 stock trading outside of the United States and provide full ownership and dividend rights. Coinbase already provides stock trading for US investors, but those are conventional stocks, for now. It’s inevitable Coinbase will launch a US tokenized stock offering eventually, but the regulations are currently a work in progress, with the DTC receiving a no action letter last December.
We’ll need to wait for the full Coinbase announcement, but this is how we expect offshore tokenized stocks to work from a legal perspective. Coinbase already has a US broker dealer that can buy and sell the stocks onshore and provide custody. Potentially that firm or another Coinbase subsidiary could tokenize the stocks, likely on the Base blockchain. To distribute a US stock token in Europe would require a MiFID II license, and Coinbase Financial Services Europe has the appropriate license for the EU for stocks. It likely has licenses elsewhere as well.
Today Binance also officially launched its tokenized stocks, bStocks, which also provide full ownership. In its case the stocks are bought and sold in the US via broker Alpaca, which also provides custody for most of the assets for Ondo GM and xStocks. Binance has a licensed broker in the UAE which is the avenue for tokenization and distribution. But bStocks are not yet available in the EU and for now stocks are tokenized on demand given it is offering access to 7,000 different securities.
Article continues …
Want the full story? Pro subscribers get complete articles, exclusive industry analysis, and early access to legislative updates that keep you ahead of the competition. Join the professionals who are choosing deeper insights over surface level news.
