Tokenized stock trading takes off overseas as Goldman, other U.S. companies object — SkimNews
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- Robinhood Chain saw tokenized stock volume surge from $526 million in July to $2.21 billion in August, then $11.31 billion in September, per Bitwise Asset Management's quarterly staking report published Tuesday.
- OKXICE disclosed Monday that Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Caterpillar, McDonald's, Western Digital and Alphabet objected to tokenized versions of their shares — bringing the total to 16 objectors alongside CoreWeave, UnitedHealth, Broadcom, Applied Digital, AppLovin and Cerebras.
- Hyperliquid's perpetuals volume from non-crypto markets rose to 36.5% from 32.7% the prior quarter, while tokenized equities were the fastest-growing category on Solana, per the same Bitwise report.
- The SEC's innovation exemption issued last month created a temporary U.S. pathway for tokenized stocks that requires companies be able to object; OKXICE must notify issuers and wait 30 days before trading their tokens, per the October 4 announcement of 60+ tokenized stocks.
- Injective COO Mirza Uddin said the divergence comes down to what's traded: offshore activity uses onchain perps and wrapped tokens that don't need company permission, while the U.S. framework puts real shares onchain — giving issuers control but also exposure to 24/7 trading with unclear voting rights.
- ClearStreet analyst Owen Lau argued the real divide is investors versus issuers rather than U.S. versus overseas, noting beaten-down, low-volume stocks could be early candidates that benefit from expanded distribution and 24/7 access.
Why it matters: Robinhood Chain's $11.31 billion September volume shows real demand for tokenized stocks — but the SEC's opt-out framework lets U.S. issuers veto their own shares. Sixteen companies including Goldman Sachs and Microsoft are blocking tokens, so the market expands offshore without them while U.S. venues wait for issuers to see enough upside to opt in.
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