Author: Changan I Biteye Content Team
On May 26, 2026, Ondo Finance officially announced the unexpected passing of founder Nathan Allman.
This news has reignited market interest in Ondo and has once again put the RWA track in the spotlight.
From tokenized US Treasuries to Ondo Global Markets and exposure to traditional financial assets such as US stocks and ETFs, Ondo has consistently held a central position in the on-chain aspect of traditional assets.
So when traditional financial assets start being tokenized, who will control the entrance to the next generation of assets?
Today, this question is no longer solely about Ondo; different participants including xStocks and NYSE are also entering the US stock tokenization market from various directions. They all seem to be bringing US stocks on-chain, but the routes they represent are not the same.
I. Ondo's Contribution: From Yield Narrative to Asset Entry Narrative for RWA
Nathan Allman's contribution to Ondo was not just in founding an RWA project. More importantly, he transformed a direction that was still somewhat conceptual at the time into a product that the market could understand and users could use.
When the last wave of RWA narrative was just emerging, the market's understanding of RWA was still quite vague. Much of the discussion remained at a macro narrative level: real estate can be tokenized, bonds can be tokenized, stocks can also be tokenized.
But when it came to the user side, people were more concerned about some very specific questions: What can I actually buy? Where does the yield come from? How should risks be understood?
The entry point that Ondo caught early on was the relatively clear aspect of tokenizing US Treasuries.
In a high-interest-rate environment, on-chain funds began searching for more stable sources of yield. Compared to the DeFi yields that rely on token subsidies, traditional assets like US Treasuries and money market funds already have mature pricing systems and market perceptions.
Through products like OUSG and USDY, Ondo brought these traditional financial assets into the on-chain world. This was also one of Nathan Allman's most significant pushes for Ondo: he turned the RWA narrative into a product.
However, Ondo was not satisfied with only doing on-chain US Treasuries. From tokenizing US Treasuries to Ondo Global Markets, and then to exposure to US stocks and ETFs, Ondo's goals gradually became clearer: it aimed to package traditional financial assets into on-chain financial products and establish a new distribution method.
In the past, RWA was more like a supplementary option for the crypto market when seeking yield.
But Ondo turned RWA into a part of the on-chain financial system. Assets like US Treasuries, stocks, and ETFs were not just moved onto the chain, but could also enter wallets, trading platforms, institutional products, and more financial scenarios.
That is why Nathan Allman's passing would elicit such a strong market reaction. Ondo is no longer just an ordinary project, but one of the most representative samples in this round of RWA narrative. It carries the market's imagination of whether "traditional financial assets can truly enter the on-chain world."
However, this also reminds the market that although RWA connects traditional financial assets like US Treasuries, stocks, and ETFs, the project still has to face the vulnerabilities of a startup. Especially for crypto projects, a sudden departure of the founder will also lead to external observations of its organizational resilience.
If Ondo can continue to advance Global Markets, maintain institutional collaborations, expand distribution entrances, and stabilize user and market confidence, then this transfer of leadership may actually prove that it no longer relies solely on founder-driven momentum, but has entered a more mature stage.
For this reason, discussing Ondo today cannot just be about Ondo itself. As RWA continues from US Treasury yield products to public market assets like US stocks and ETFs, what it touches upon is no longer just internal product innovation within crypto, but also the account, distribution, and settlement systems traditionally controlled by finance.
II. Why Will the Tokenization of US Stocks Change the Asset Entry for Traditional Brokerages?
When RWA moves from US Treasury yield products to public market assets like US stocks and ETFs, it touches upon not only on-chain yield issues, but also the asset distribution systems that have long been dominated by traditional finance.
In the past, when global users wanted to buy US stocks, they typically had to go through brokerage accounts. Opening an account, KYC, depositing funds, currency exchange, trading, clearing, custody— all processes were completed within the traditional financial system.
For brokerages, stock trading itself is only the surface; what really matters is the relationship with the users and the accumulation of assets. As long as user assets remain in the brokerage accounts, businesses like margin trading, securities lending, and wealth management can continue to unfold around that account.
The change brought about by US stock tokenization is that the pathways for users to access US stock assets are starting to multiply. Users no longer have to solely engage with US stocks through traditional brokerage accounts; they may also access US stocks and ETFs via exchanges, wallets, and on-chain applications.
This does not mean that brokerages will be immediately replaced, but the previously concentrated asset entry, trading entry, and distribution entry within brokerage accounts are beginning to overflow.
This is also the reason why Ondo, xStocks, and NYSE are entering this competition from different directions. They are not competing over a specific stock token, but for new distribution positions for US stock assets: whoever can bring traditional financial assets in front of more users has the opportunity to become the next asset entry.
III. Ondo, xStocks, NYSE: Three Routes for US Stock Tokenization
If we only look at the surface, Ondo, xStocks, and NYSE are all in the US stock tokenization game, but they actually represent three completely different routes.
These three routes will likely determine what the on-chain US stocks will ultimately become.
1️⃣ Ondo: Starting from RWA Products, Building an On-Chain Financial Asset Platform
Ondo aims not just to be a trading entry for US stocks but to oversee issuance and distribution. It acts more like a middle layer between traditional finance and on-chain dApps: one end connects to US stocks, while the other connects to wallets.
This differs from the logic of traditional brokerages. The core of traditional brokerages is the account system. Users open an account, buy stocks, and assets reside within the brokerage and custody systems. Trading, dividends, taxes, and margin trading all revolve around this account.
What Ondo wants to do is transform these traditional assets into accessible, transferable, and combinable asset exposures on-chain.
This means that US stocks and ETFs are no longer just holdings in the users' brokerage accounts, but may enter wallets, DEXs, lending protocols, on-chain asset management products, and more DeFi scenarios.
Ondo's approach has clear advantages
Closer to DeFi's composability.
Can serve the needs of global non-US users for assets like US stocks and US Treasuries.
Easier to integrate with on-chain lending, stablecoins, yield products, and institutional wallets.
However, its challenges are equally clear.
Products like Ondo require very complex legal, compliance, and custody structures. What users purchase are often not traditional stock account assets, but economic exposures packaged through the issuer and legal structure.
Thus, Ondo is more like creating an entry point for traditional assets on-chain, rather than completely replicating a traditional brokerage account.
2️⃣ xStocks: Starting from Trading Entry, Enabling Stock Exposures to Flow on-Chain
xStocks is more like cutting in from the trading entry. The focus is on placing tokenized stocks directly into the trading environments that users are already familiar with, such as Kraken, Bybit, and KuCoin.
Of course, xStocks and traditional stocks are not the same; users gain price exposure rather than full shareholder rights.
It solves how to facilitate the trading of US stocks but has not yet addressed deeper issues like voting, corporate actions, and shareholder rights.
Moreover, products like xStocks also face counterparty and custody risks. Even if the product emphasizes underlying asset support, what users truly rely on is not just the on-chain tokens themselves, but also factors like whether the issuer holds the corresponding assets as per regulations, the transparency of the custody arrangement, the stability of the trading platform, and whether redemption and liquidity mechanisms function normally in extreme market conditions.
This is one of the biggest differences between US stock tokenization and directly holding traditional stocks.
In brokerage accounts, users face a mature securities registration, custody, and investor protection system. But when trading tokenized stocks on crypto exchanges, users must also understand the relationship between the issuer, custodian, trading platform, and on-chain contracts.
Thus, xStocks’ advantage lies in quicker and more direct trading entry, but whether it can transition from a trading product to a mature on-chain stock network still depends on the transparency of the underlying assets, custody structure, and redemption capacity under extreme conditions.
3️⃣ NYSE: Starting from Traditional Market Infrastructure, Creating a Regulated Digital Securities Platform
NYSE's path differs from both Ondo and xStocks.
Ondo and xStocks are starting from the crypto world, bringing US stocks and ETFs on-chain, whereas NYSE is starting from within the traditional securities market, aiming to digitize the underlying processes of trading, settlement, registration, and rights confirmation.
In March 2026, ICE/NYSE signed a memorandum of cooperation with Securitize, both creating a more complete market infrastructure for tokenized securities, including securities registration, transfer agency, tokenized issuance, and regulatory, operational, and technical standards for institutional-level digital securities markets.
This sets NYSE's route apart from on-chain projects.
For NYSE, on-chain stocks are not solely about price capture. NYSE wants to address deeper issues in the securities market: After stocks are tokenized, who confirms holders' rights? Who registers and transfers? How to settle after trades are completed? How should traditional securities processes like dividends, voting, and corporate actions be continued?
This also determines that NYSE's path will not be as fast as native crypto projects. It requires regulatory approval, coordination between traditional financial institutions, and compatibility with existing securities market rules. Even if it ultimately materializes, it likely will not fully transition to an unregulated and highly open DeFi model.
IV. Current Status of the Three Routes: Ondo and xStocks are Already Distributing, NYSE is Working on Rules
If the third chapter discusses the differences among the three routes, from the current progress, they are advancing at different paces: Ondo is expanding distribution entries, xStocks is generating trading volume in CEXs, while NYSE is still advancing at the regulatory and infrastructure levels.
1️⃣ Ondo: From Tokenized US Treasuries to On-Chain Distribution Network for US Stocks and ETFs
Compared to early tokenized US Treasury products, Ondo Global Markets has expanded its asset range to include US stocks and ETFs.
More importantly, these assets are not just staying on Ondo’s platform but are starting to enter more wallets, trading platforms, and on-chain entries.
A key milestone is the integration with Binance Wallet.
In November 2025, Ondo announced its 100+ tokenized stocks & ETFs were integrated with Binance Wallet, making them accessible to Binance Wallet users.
By February 2026, Binance further added 10 Ondo tokenized US stocks and ETFs to Binance Alpha and Binance Wallet, including symbols like AAPLon, GOOGLon, TSLAon, NVDAon, QQQon, etc.
This signifies that Ondo is moving from a single platform to larger traffic entries. Users may not need to directly enter Ondo’s platform but might access relevant assets through entrances like Binance Wallet and Binance Alpha.
The asset scale of Ondo Global Markets continues to grow as well. In May 2026, Ondo announced that the TVL of Ondo Global Markets surpassed $1 billion, becoming the first tokenized stock platform to reach this scale.
2️⃣ xStocks: Faster Exchange Integrations, Transforming into the US Stock Trading Entry in the Crypto World
xStocks has now entered multiple exchanges as a stock token entry.
Kraken is one of the most important platforms. According to Kraken, xStocks currently supports 100+ tokenized versions of US stocks and ETFs; since its launch in June 2025, the total trading volume has exceeded $25 billion.
Besides Kraken, exchanges like Bybit and KuCoin have also successively integrated xStocks. With more platforms joining, xStocks is no longer just an experimental product within a single platform but is beginning to become a US stock token solution adopted by multiple CEXs.
From the current progress, xStocks has achieved results mainly in three aspects:
More exchange entries
Expanded asset coverage
Trading volume has started to emerge
From this angle, xStocks has initially validated the demand for US stock tokens in CEX scenarios.
3️⃣ NYSE: Slower but Approaching Tokenized Securities from Regulatory Aspects
Currently, NYSE has not generated user-end trading volume like Ondo and xStocks; progress mainly occurs at the regulatory and infrastructure levels.
In December 2025, DTC obtained an SEC Staff No-Action Letter, allowing it to provide tokenization services for DTC custodial assets under certain conditions.
Following this, NYSE also began advancing its own platform. In January 2026, ICE/NYSE announced the development of a tokenized securities platform, planning to support 24/7 trading, instant settlement, USD amount orders, and stablecoin funding channels, although the platform still requires regulatory approval.
In March 2026, NYSE signed a memorandum of cooperation with Securitize to promote digital transfer agency, tokenized issuance, and the regulatory, operational, and technical standards needed for institutional digital securities markets.
This month, NYSE Texas submitted a rule change regarding Rule 7.39 "Tokenized Securities," allowing participants that meet the conditions of the DTC Pilot Program to trade tokenized form of DTC Eligible Securities on the exchange.
From the current standpoint, NYSE's US stock token proposal has not fully launched yet. A realistic timeline is that a small-scale pilot may appear in the second half of 2026. However, to truly form stable trading volume and integrate more brokerages and users, it may not happen until after 2027.
The US digital asset regulatory framework is also moving in this direction. In May 2026, the CLARITY Act clarified a direction: after securities are tokenized, they will not escape the securities market rules due to being on-chain, but will seek new transaction, settlement, and disclosure methods within the existing securities regulatory framework.
V. Conclusion: The Next Step for RWA is to Make Finance Not Divided by National Borders
The most interesting aspect of US stock tokenization is not just that it provides users with an additional entry point to buy US stocks, but that it allows traditional financial assets to begin entering a more open network of liquidity.
When US stocks, US Treasuries, and ETFs can be purchased with stablecoins, held in wallets, and distributed by exchanges, they are no longer just assets in a brokerage account but begin to possess stronger global liquidity.
In the short term, Ondo and xStocks may move faster. They are closer to crypto users and can more easily generate early liquidity through wallets, CEXs, and on-chain applications. For users, these products primarily address the question, "Can I get US stock exposure more conveniently?"
In the long term, however, regulated infrastructure routes like NYSE will not be absent.
If DTC, NYSE, Securitize, and the relevant regulatory framework gradually mature, tokenized securities may no longer just be price exposures on-chain but will start to resemble the digital asset forms recognized by the traditional securities market. At that stage, on-chain projects will face the issue of "whether users will trade," but rather whether they can connect with clearer registration, custody, settlement, and rights confirmation systems.
Thus, US stock tokenization may ultimately not be a life-or-death battle between crypto routes and TradFi routes.
A more likely outcome is that in the short term, projects like Ondo and xStocks first educate users and generate liquidity and use cases; in the long term, traditional infrastructures like NYSE and DTC will cover regulatory, settlement, and rights confirmation.
By then, if crypto projects wish to remain at the core, they can no longer solely act as the front-end trading access but must deeply connect with the regulated underlying market structure.
This also determines the competitive focus for the future of RWA.
It is not simply about moving a few stocks onto the chain but about who can find a balance between open liquidity and compliant infrastructure, enabling traditional financial assets to truly enter a more global and trustworthy digital market.
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