Is the "tokenization" of stocks #Gate广场创作者计划# just a change of soup without changing the medicine, or will it really trigger an earthquake in the financial world?

On September 3rd, Ondo Finance officially launched a tokenized stock platform called "Ondo Global Markets," releasing over one hundred token stocks at once, and stated that it aims to expand to one thousand types by the end of the year. Stocks on the blockchain, this time it's really big.
The old rules of Wall Street have been in place for hundreds of years, and at this time, ondo stands up to show the world that they can achieve "faster, more transparent, and more global" through blockchain technology.
Currently, the total market value of all tokenized stocks is less than $400 million, while the stock of Nvidia alone is worth $40 trillion... The significant gap illustrates two things: this market is still in a very early stage, but it also means that if the direction is right, the potential is unimaginable.
🗞️ Why does ondo need to promote "stock tokenization"?
First, it aims to solve a long-standing problem in traditional markets: slow settlement. When we buy stocks now, they are not immediately available; we have to wait one or two days (this is called T+2). Money is frozen, processes are complicated, and there may be issues in between. However, after tokenization, using blockchain's "atomic settlement", equity can be transferred in one hand and money in the other, completing the process instantly. Not only is it fast, but it also frees up a large amount of funds stuck in the process.
Furthermore, cross-border investment will become much simpler. Previously, purchasing foreign stocks required going through a bunch of intermediaries: custodians, brokers, clearing houses... Each stage charged fees and took time. But now, by writing compliance checks (like KYC and anti-money laundering) directly into the Token protocol, the assets themselves carry "compliance attributes." At this point, there is no need to repeatedly prove who you are; the system verifies automatically.
Most importantly, it is becoming the bridge between traditional finance and the Crypto world. Tokenized stocks allow traditional finance to start experiencing "on-chain efficiency" from familiar assets, such as Apple and Tesla stocks.
🧩 Currently, there are three mainstream modes for this gameplay:
The first method is through third-party custody. For example, Backed Finance will establish a special entity (SPV) to hold the real stocks, then find a custody institution for auditing, and finally issue tokens on the exchange. What you buy is the corresponding economic rights, but not legal shareholder status.
The second option is for licensed institutions to do it themselves. Players like Robinhood, Ondo, or Dinari, who have securities licenses, issue, custody, and clear on their own. This path is the most compliant, with the strongest legal protections, but the barriers to entry are also very high.
The third type of risk is the greatest: synthetic assets. For example, what Mirror Protocol did before, issuing not real stock-backed tokens, but a kind of derivative that tracks stock price fluctuations. There are no shareholder rights, it's purely betting on price increases and decreases—such projects can easily become unanchored and are the most difficult to regulate.
The boundaries in reality are not so clear. Many licensed institutions also connect to third-party liquidity, while unlicensed ones are desperately applying for licenses. In this way, everyone will understand: without compliance, one cannot go far.
🃏 Ondo's trump card: the license is the moat.
In terms of compliance, Ondo is clearly ahead. Unlike some projects that choose lenient regulatory regions, they directly confront the strictest securities regulations in the United States—currently, they hold three key licenses:
First is the Transfer Agent, responsible for recording who holds the shares, which is the cornerstone of equity mapping.
Second is the Broker-Dealer license; without it, one cannot legally complete the fiat-Token exchange.
The hardest to obtain is the Alternative Trading System (ATS) license, which allows for direct peer-to-peer trading of tokens between users—without this, liquidity in the secondary market cannot be established.
With three cards gathered, Ondo can legally complete the entire process of "issuance-trading-settlement" in the United States. This is not only a technological advantage but also a wide and deep moat.
💬 So... is it a revolution, or old wine in new bottles?
Stock tokenization points to a deeper change: it may redefine the concept of "global markets"—24-hour trading, instant settlement, borderless circulation. Once realized, we will enter an era of extremely efficient capital flow.
Can it succeed? No one can guarantee that. The collision between tradition and the emerging is not just a technical issue; it also involves law, customs, and trust. Ondo's entry this time feels like a bold experiment. Whether it can truly attract traditional funds and a large number of new users will depend on how it is implemented and operated in the future. Perhaps we are witnessing the beginning of the next financial revolution.