Crypto Meets U.S. Stocks: How Companies Are Bridging the Market Gap

Explore the rising convergence of cryptocurrency and U.S. equities as firms like SharpLink and GameStop allocate treasury to digital assets, sparking new investment dynamics.

The Growing Convergence of Crypto and U.S. Equities

Recently, two hot topics—cryptocurrency and U.S. stocks—have begun to intertwine, creating an unprecedented two‑way overlay effect. On one hand, an increasing number of publicly listed U.S. companies are allocating part of their treasury to crypto assets; firms such as SharpLink and GameStop saw their share prices jump sharply in the short term after announcing such purchases. On the other hand, blockchain projects are actively making inroads into the U.S. equity market. The USDC stablecoin issued by Circle completed an IPO on June 6, closing its first week at $107.7 per share—up 247.4 % from the $31 issue price. Arthur Hayes, co‑founder of BitMEX, described this event as the kickoff of a crypto‑IPO boom.

This mutual penetration blurs the line between traditional finance and on‑chain ecosystems, prompting many “watch‑only” crypto users to feel the urge to participate. Consequently, demand for buying and selling U.S. equities directly on‑chain has surged, and exploration of Security Token Offerings (STOs) has followed suit.

The Evolution of Security Tokenization

Even before the Real‑World Asset (RWA) concept took shape, STOs were already in existence. During 2020‑2021, exchanges such as FTX and Binance experimented with tokenized U.S. equity services, but regulatory constraints at the time prevented those services from scaling. Recently, as U.S. regulatory guidance has become clearer and the integration between crypto and traditional finance deepens, institutions like Citigroup, JPMorgan, and Robinhood have all begun to lay the groundwork for tokenized equity offerings, ushering the industry into a fresh growth cycle.

We have compiled the latest developments at the intersection of crypto and U.S. equities, focusing on a comparative review of several security‑token platforms—examining their features, compliance pathways, and user experience. This guide helps investors quickly spot reliable entry points and understand broader market trends. If you want to master the core principles of cross‑chain trading, keep reading for the full analysis.

Platforms That Allow Purchase of U.S. Stocks with Crypto Assets

Bybit

On May 19, the centralized exchange Bybit launched a USDT‑denominated stock CFD (Contract for Difference) product on its TradFi platform. The service supports a single account that can trade across multiple asset classes; users only need to create an MT5 account and can then use USDT as collateral to trade U.S. equities. The initial offering includes 78 tickers, among them Apple (AAPL), Tesla (TSLA), and Nvidia (NVDA). CFDs do not represent ownership of the underlying shares; they settle the price difference based on stock movements and allow up to 5× leverage. The platform charges 0.04 USDT per share in fees, with a minimum order size of 5 USDT.

Note for U.S. residents: U.S. users must access Binance.US rather than the global Binance platform for compliant crypto‑fi services.

MyStonks

MyStonks originates from the technical team behind the meme‑coin community Stonks. It offers a decentralized marketplace for tokenized U.S. stocks. The platform lists 95 equities and 5 U.S.-listed ETFs. When a user purchases a token, the system mints a 1:1 stock token on the Base chain and sends it to the user’s wallet; selling reverses the process, burning the token and redeeming it for a stablecoin. Prices are sourced from Chainlink oracles, and the transaction fee is 0.3 %. The actual share‑level settlement occurs off‑chain, with Fidelity Investments acting as custodian. The first tranche of custodial assets totals $50 million.

Ondo Finance

Ondo Finance is an institution‑focused DeFi protocol that has partnered with the WLFI project. On February 5, 2022, the team announced the upcoming launch of Ondo Global Markets (Ondo GM), a platform for tokenizing stocks, bonds, and ETFs on a 1:1 basis. Tokens are natively issued on the Ondo Chain, and users can leverage the protocol’s cross‑chain bridges to interact with other networks. The service is not available to U.S. residents at present, and a concrete launch date has yet to be disclosed.

Backed

Swiss‑based asset‑tokenization firm Backed focuses on 1:1 tokenization of U.S. equities and ETFs. To date it has issued ten tokens across multiple chains, including bCOIN, bCSPX, bTSLA, bNVDA, and bMSTR. While Backed does not operate its own dedicated exchange, its tokens can be traded on on‑chain DEXs such as CoW Swap and 1inch. The company complies with Swiss DLT regulations and holds the required licences. For every minted token, Backed purchases the corresponding physical share on the secondary market; a Swiss custodial bank holds the shares and publishes regular reserve attestations. On April 30, 2024, Backed closed a $9.5 million financing round led by Gnosis VC. Subsequently, it partnered with centralized exchange Kraken to develop the xStocks trading platform; the launch timeline remains pending.

Dinari

Dinari concentrates on compliant tokenization of traditional securities. Its token‑trading venue dShare lists close to a hundred U.S. stocks, featuring Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Coinbase among others. The platform enforces a KYC process and is only open to users in the United States and Canada, who must provide government‑issued ID and proof of residence. dShares are ERC‑20 tokens on Arbitrum One, backed 1:1 by the underlying shares and managed by a SEC‑registered transfer agent. Users can trade using stablecoins such as USDT, and token holders receive dividends paid in Dinari’s USD+ stablecoin. Fees are $10 per order on Ethereum mainnet and $0.20 on layer‑2 networks. Dinari does not issue its own native token. On May 1, 2025, Dinari completed a $12.7 million Series A round led by Blockchange, with participation from Hack VC, Blizzard Fund, and VanEck.

Helix

Built on Injective, Helix is a decentralized exchange offering cross‑chain spot trading and perpetual contracts. It supports 13 U.S. equities—including META, TSLA, NVDA, MSTR, and COIN—all tradable against USDT. Helix wraps each stock as an iAsset, a synthetic derivative that does not require upfront capital allocation. The platform provides up to 25× leverage, settles contracts in USDT, and charges a 0.005 % maker fee and a 0.05 % taker fee. Helix has also launched a trading‑points rewards program, with a commission‑rebate feature currently in beta testing.

Swarm

Swarm delivers compliant DeFi infrastructure; its DEX dOTC enables the purchase of tokenized U.S. stocks and gold on Ethereum, Polygon, and Base using stablecoins such as USDC. The exchange lists 12 stock tokens—including AAPL, NVDA, MSFT, COIN, and TSLA—with a flat 0.25 % trading fee. The tokens are issued by SwarmX GmbH, a Swarm subsidiary, and are fully backed by 100 % physical share custody. The custodian publishes a monthly reserve report to ensure transparency.

DigiFT

Singapore‑regulated RWA exchange DigiFT holds both an RMO and a CMS licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). On February 28, 2023, DigiFT closed a $10.5 million Pre‑Series A round led by Shanda Group. The platform currently offers two products: iSNR, a structured note linked to Invesco’s U.S. senior loan strategy, and UMINT, a tokenized version of UBS‑USD Money Market Fund. After completing KYC, users can purchase these products on Ethereum mainnet using stablecoins like USDC. While DigiFT does not yet provide a dedicated tokenized‑stock offering, its roadmap suggests a possible expansion into that space.

Tokenized U.S. Stocks Still Need a Clear Product‑Market Fit to Ignite Mass Adoption

The primary draw of tokenized U.S. equities lies in removing geographic and KYC barriers, enabling 24/7 trading, allowing non‑U.S. participants to hold American assets at lower cost, and dramatically cutting cross‑border transaction fees. Yet, data from RWA.xyz indicates that the global RWA market is roughly $23 billion, with tokenized stocks accounting for only $313 million—far short of the original trillion‑dollar expectations.

Bar chart comparing tokenized U.S. stock asset size with total RWA market

Two main factors explain this gap:

Immature compliance frameworks – many platforms still operate with “data‑rooms,” opaque information, or insufficient licensing, raising risk for investors.
Stringent KYC/AML checks – platforms that have achieved full regulatory clearance often impose verification procedures comparable to traditional broker‑dealers, offering little extra convenience for crypto‑savvy users.

At the same time, the U.S. equity market already enjoys a mature, transparent secondary market. For investors wanting to trade U.S. stocks, the entry barriers are similar to those of conventional brokers, and in some cases the on‑chain process can be more cumbersome, eroding any clear advantage. Moreover, crypto‑native traders who thrive on high‑frequency, high‑volatility assets may find the relatively modest price swings of major U.S. equities insufficient for arbitrage or speculation. Projects such as James and Liangxi, which are tailored to the rapid‑move dynamics of the broader crypto ecosystem, tend to flourish within the native blockchain environment rather than in the comparatively sedate U.S. equity arena.

Consequently, merely mirroring U.S. stocks on a blockchain will not, by itself, attract large volumes of crypto capital. Platforms and project teams must discover a genuine Product‑Market‑Fit (PMF)—designing offerings that meet the specific needs of crypto participants while delivering compliance, liquidity, and a seamless trading experience.

Looking ahead, if tokenized equity solutions can precisely address crypto users’ core pain points and simultaneously break new ground in regulatory compliance, liquidity provisioning, and user experience, on‑chain U.S. stock trading will evolve from a novelty into a critical bridge linking traditional capital markets with the Web 3 world.

*This article is a full translation of “Crypto and U.S. Stocks Moving Toward Each Other! A Review of 8 Security‑Token Platforms.” For further updates, follow Bitaigen (比特根).

Disclaimer: Crypto gains may be taxable in your jurisdiction; consult a tax professional for guidance.

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Crypto Meets U.S. Stocks: How Companies Are Bridging the Market Gap