Crypto Long & Short: Tokenized equities: the model underneath the trade

Happy Wednesday,

This is your institutional newsletter, Crypto Long & Short. This week:

• Two tokenized stocks can trade under the same ticker and mean you own completely different things, writes Joshua DeVos of CoinDesk. The structure underneath is what decides the rights and risks.
• Top headlines institutions should pay attention to by Francisco Rodrigues
• “BTC ETF netflows rebound as bitcoin climbs to $73,000” in Chart of the Week

Thanks for joining us!

- Kim Klemballa

Tokenized Equities: The Model Underneath the Trade

by Joshua DeVos, research lead, CoinDesk

Equity markets are moving toward continuous, around-the-clock trading, and the conversation has so far focused on exchange hours. Nasdaq now runs 23 hours a day; NYSE Arca has proposed the same; NSCC extended clearing to 24/5 in June 2026. These are real improvements, but they do not create genuinely continuous markets. Extending execution hours over a batch-cleared, T+1 settlement backbone can widen the gap between when a trade completes and when ownership formally changes hands, increasing friction rather than reducing it. The more important shift happens at the settlement layer itself; and that is where tokenized equities become highly relevant.

The demand signal

Perpetual futures for tokenized equities; derivatives that represent price exposure rather than direct ownership; grew from around $16 billion in 2025 to over $590 billion in 2026 to date. Spot trading (actual on-chain ownership of the token itself) rose from $38 billion in 2025 to over $88 billion so far this year and is on pace to top $145 billion for the full year. Both trajectories point in the same direction: substantial and accelerating demand for equity exposure through on-chain rails.

The on-chain equity market cap currently sits at $2.1 billion, against a $151.9 trillion global equity market; approximately $1 in every $72,000. The gap between where the demand signal is pointing and where market cap currently sits is precisely where the opportunity lies as the infrastructure matures.

The distinction that matters

Not all tokenized equities are the same instrument. Three structures are operating in the market today. In an issuer-sponsored model, the token is the share itself — it carries full voting rights, dividends, and corporate action protections, and the holder is recognized as the registered shareholder. In a custodial model, the holder receives the same economic rights but accesses them through a securities intermediary rather than directly. In a synthetic model, the investor holds a contractual claim against a third party; not the underlying share at all.