Tokenized markets are showing different trading and investment patterns from traditional markets, according to a Dune report comparing onchain and off-chain activity across equities, credit, commodities and cash-equivalent products. Tokenization refers to representing traditional assets as digital tokens that can be issued, traded and settled onchain.

The difference was particularly pronounced in equities. Single stocks accounted for 81% of tokenized equity spot supply, while exchange-traded funds (ETFs) represented 19%. Single stocks give holders direct exposure to an individual company’s performance, while ETFs bundle a basket of securities and typically track an index.

Armand Khatri, head of ecosystem at Ondo Finance, said tokenization gives investors greater control over asset selection by reducing their dependence on the offerings of local intermediaries.

“The investor decides which they want,” Khatri said, referring to the choice between exposure to a single company and exposure to an index.

Dune valued tokenized real-world assets at $34.5 billion as of Aug. 31, representing growth of more than 140% from a year earlier. Cash equivalents continued to dominate supply, while equities were the most actively traded segment — a split that places largest balances and the highest trading activity in different parts of the tokenized market.

Tokenized equities remain a fraction of global markets

Separate data from Binance Research, cited by Binance co-CEO Richard Teng, put the tokenized equity market at $4.43 billion as of Sept. 15. That represented a 390% increase in 2026, but equaled only 0.0029% of the $151.9 trillion global listed-equity market — a share that underscores how early the tokenized equity segment remains relative to traditional listed markets. Teng cited the data in an X post.

Binance Research projected that tokenized equities could reach about $349 billion by 2030 under its base-case scenario. Teng said tokenization could change how investors access equity markets, but added that the shift “won’t happen overnight.”

US regulators and exchanges have also taken steps to expand tokenized trading. On Sept. 17, the US Securities and Exchange Commission granted a temporary exemption allowing limited onchain trading of tokenized US-listed stocks.

The New York Stock Exchange and Blockchain.com separately announced plans to offer tokenized US-listed stocks and ETFs through NYSE’s planned digital trading platform, subject to regulatory approval. With the platform still awaiting approval and the SEC’s exemption temporary, the pace of US tokenized-equity expansion remains tied to further regulatory decisions.