The crypto firm wants to put stocks, ETFs, and full brokerage services on public blockchains — and already holds $2.6 billion to prove it is more than just a plan.
Ondo Finance has a bold goal: make it as easy to buy a share of Apple or an S&P 500 ETF on a blockchain as it is to send a dollar using a stablecoin. The company laid out this vision at its recent Ondo Summit, where company president Ian De Bode told attendees the firm wants to do for stocks what stablecoins did for the US dollar.
Stablecoins made dollar payments faster, cheaper, and available 24/7 – no banks, no business hours, no borders. Ondo thinks the same can be achieved for global investing with tokenized stocks and ETFs. Blockchain wallets could allow investors worldwide to own real financial assets, such as Apple, Nvidia, gold and the S&P 500, directly.
Big numbers, but still early days
Ondo Global Markets opened in September and has been steadily attracting investors. Net outflows have occurred only on three days on the platform. It now has approximately $2 billion in tokenized treasuries and $600 million in tokenized stocks and ETFs, which represents about 60% of the tokenized equity market.
Reading more: Ondo Partners With Broadridge to Add Voting Rights for Tokenized Stocks – Ledger Tribune
Ondo products can be found on the largest crypto platforms, including MetaMask, Binance Wallet, OKX, and BitGet, with millions of users. Even with the expansion, De Bode didn’t claim a victory.
“We are still building the pipes that will support larger financial systems later. The broad expansion has not fully started yet.”
— Ian De Bode, President, Ondo Finance
Futures, collateral, and a Wall Street rival
Ondo’s not done with spot assets. The company is working on a system that will enable users to post tokenized stocks and ETFs as collateral for perpetual futures contracts for equities and commodities. At the moment, only stablecoins are accepted for this use on most platforms. Real tokenized assets as collateral could enable traders to hedge more effectively and provide liquidity throughout the market.
The larger goal, however, is on-chain prime brokerage. Prime brokers are the companies, such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, that provide large institutional investors with access to trading, lending, custody and asset management in a single location. Ondo aims to recreate those services on public blockchains that are open to all.
The company also believes that the crypto exchanges are changing rapidly. A single application may provide all of these services in the near future. A single app may be able to provide all of these services in the near future. The gap between a crypto account and a traditional brokerage account, Ondo argues, is closing quickly.
If the company is correct, the next several years might be a lot like the rise of stablecoins: a gradual rise, followed by a dramatic change in the way millions of people move and invest their money.