jakiro
The word “stock tokenization” frequently appears in market news.Whether it is explorations like Robinhood, xStocks, or the feasibility of Nasdaq studying stock tokenization, it seems that a wave of “turning stocks into tokens” is coming.
Many people regard it as a revolutionary breakthrough in the stock market, and some even say that it is the best entrance to the combination of blockchain and traditional finance.
But in my opinion, stock tokenization is more like a phased transition product than an ultimate form.Its liveliness stems from regulatory arbitrage and market imagination, not real business logic.To summarize in one sentence:Stock tokenization may be a false proposition, the real proposition is blockchainization of the exchange system.
The essence and transitional value of tokenization
To understand stock tokenization, we must first return to the essence of token.Token is a kind of voucher that records “what I have and what rights can I enjoy.”It can represent currency, points, tickets, or stocks.
But when a stock is “tokenized”, its legal attributes and shareholder rights will not fundamentally change because it is placed on the chain.Tokenized stocks are still subject to the Company Law, Securities Law, and Exchange Rules; they do not have a cent more rights than traditional stocks, nor do they have a cent less responsibility than traditional stocks.In other words, the essence of stock tokenization is simply to move a voucher from System A to System B.
The question is: Since tokenization does not change the rights and obligations of stocks, it cannot solve the fundamental problem, why are there so many companies and platforms in reality promoting it?
The reason is the gap between reality and ideal.
It will take some time for the ideal “exchange to be chained”, but market demand and arbitrage impulse will not wait.Therefore, before the system has been completely updated, tokenized stocks have become a “patch-style” solution.It does not exist because it changes the nature of stocks, but because it fills the gap between the old system and the new technology.
The attractiveness of this model is mainly reflected in three aspects:
1. Lower the threshold:Investors do not need to open cross-border accounts, they only need a wallet to access US stocks or other securities;
2. Improve liquidity:Tokenized stocks can be traded 7×24 hours a day, bypassing the time limits of traditional stock markets;
3. Create arbitrage space:Price spreads may occur between different markets, thereby attracting cross-market capital flows.
However, these advantages seem fresh and are essentially transitional products.The reason why they are established is that there are institutional gaps between the current securities market and the crypto market: regional control, account opening threshold, and liquidation process are inconsistent.It is precisely because of these imbalances that tokenized stocks find market space in the cracks.
If you want to find a more intuitive analogy, its role is very similar to some “overseas intermediary accounts” in the early years – mainland investors want to buy US stocks but cannot find a compliant channel, so they can only buy through intermediaries.But once cross-border transactions are gradually opened and official compliance channels are established, this type of model will naturally disappear.The fate of stock tokenization is the same.
More importantly, tokenized stocks cannot solve the core pain points of the capital market.Whether it is liquidation efficiency, insufficient transparency, or different global regulatory standards, it cannot provide a fundamental answer.It is like a product in the gap, and its rationality comes more from the dislocation of the old system and new needs, rather than the definition of the future.
Future picture: Exchange link
Imagine the scenarios for the next ten years: the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and even the Shanghai Stock Exchange (this is indeed a bit exciting), and gradually move to the blockchain architecture.At that time, every stock was the token on the chain from the moment it was born.Its registration, circulation, dividends, share allocations, and voting are all completed through smart contracts.Stocks are naturally tokens, and the concept of tokenization will automatically be dissolved.
What does this transformation mean?In the past, the issuance, registration, liquidation and settlement of stocks needed to rely on multiple links: registration and settlement companies, custody banks, clearing institutions, and exchanges. The connection was layer by layer, and T+2 was often required to be completed.And in the on-chain system,Registration is settled, transaction is cleared, ownership and transaction records are updated in real time on the blockchain, significantly reducing intermediary costs.For investors, this is not only an improvement in efficiency, but also a revolution in the transparency and security of the financial market.
When the exchange completes the chain reform, the boundary between securities companies and cryptocurrency exchanges will gradually disappear: you can buy Bitcoin directly in the securities company account, or you can buy Apple and Tesla stocks without barriers in the crypto exchange.The underlying infrastructure of the two is converging, and the boundary between tradition and emerging markets has been completely broken.Going further, the way financial products are designed will also change.For example, on-chain stocks can be combined with stablecoins and RWA (real world assets) to automatically generate structured financial products, and can even realize second-level settlement and on-chain pledge.
To understand this evolution, we can refer to the changes in music carriers over the past 30 years.Initially people used tapes, then Walkman appeared, and then to MP3 and MP4, each generation of products was all the rage, but the ultimate winner was the smartphone – it integrated all functions and allowed previous products to be eliminated quickly.Stock tokenization is in today’s situation, just like a Walkman, which seems to be trendy, but essentially a transitional pattern.A true disruptor must be the “smartphone moment” that redefines the entire ecological chain, that is, the exchange chain reform.
And this change is also a competition in the global capital market to some extent.
USAAdvantagesIt is because the stock market system is mature and liquidity is incomparable. If it takes the lead in completing the chain reform, it can extend the hegemony of the US dollar to the blockchain layer and directly upgrade “dollar settlement” to “dollar chain settlement”.Just imagine, if the on-chain transactions and dividends of Apple stocks and Tesla stocks in the future are settled in US dollar stablecoins, then the dominance of the US dollar will not only be the currency, but also the underlying agreement of the entire global capital market.
HongkongExploration, it can be regarded as a front-end experiment of the combination of China’s capital market and blockchain.It has attracted the gathering of global Web3 entrepreneurs and capital through its institutional advantages of “trying first”.Especially after the pilot implementation of compliance exchanges and stablecoin legislation, Hong Kong is building a capital market model that combines Chinese and Western countries.If we can take the lead in the chain reform path in the future, it may become a new entrance to international capital – not only connecting funds from Wall Street and Silicon Valley, but also providing new overseas channels for mainland Chinese investors and enterprises.
Conclusion
The lively tokenized stocks is essentially a transitional product in the regulatory gap.It provides investors with some short-term convenience and arbitrage opportunities, but cannot really change the genes of stocks.The real revolution is to go on the chain on the exchange.
This is an upgrade in the dual sense of technology and system, and it is also a new strategic competition in the global capital market..
