Half of the market value of Coinbase-issued tokenized stocks is now deposited in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications on Base, according to data from on-chain analytics platform Token Terminal.

The roughly $262.4 million deployed across DeFi protocols marks a significant increase from just $14.66 million at the start of 2026 — an eighteenfold rise over the period — reflecting the rapid absorption of tokenized equities into on-chain financial applications over the course of the year.

The tokenized stocks, which include fractional shares of major companies such as Apple and Nvidia, are accessible to eligible non-U.S. users on Base, the Ethereum layer-2 network developed by Coinbase. Rather than being passively held, the assets are increasingly put to work across DeFi — traded on decentralized exchanges and pledged as collateral for lending — highlighting the growing integration of equity-like instruments into the on-chain economy. For the tokenization sector, that level of deployment matters because it shows the assets functioning as working collateral and liquidity within on-chain markets rather than as static representations of shares held in wallets.

Tokenized stocks are blockchain-based representations of traditional shares, enabling fractional ownership and composability with DeFi applications such as decentralized exchanges and lending markets. Coinbase's offering on Base extends access to tokenized public equities to eligible users outside the United States. Tokenized equities are also part of a broader real-world asset (RWA) tokenization trend that has carried instruments such as government bonds and money-market funds onto public blockchains, as traditional assets increasingly move to on-chain rails.

According to the report, market participants view the growth in tokenized stock usage on Base as supportive of a potential Base network token launch by the end of 2026. Attention is expected to remain focused on any announcements from Coinbase or its executives, including CEO Brian Armstrong, regarding a token launch or related partnerships.

Regulatory developments and further DeFi integration advancements on the Base platform could also influence market perceptions and outcomes going forward, the report noted.

Source: CryptoBriefing