Woofun AI reports that Coinbase initiated the tokenization of major U.S. equities on its Base blockchain on Monday, directly competing with rivals such as Kraken and Binance in the onchain equity sector. The initial offering includes shares of Apple, Nvidia, Meta, and Alphabet, targeting eligible investors outside the United States. This launch marks a significant escalation in the race to bring traditional stock trading onto public blockchains.

Structurally, the tokens are issued under the regulatory framework of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), where Coinbase has established its international tokenization hub. Each token represents a 1:1 claim on underlying shares held by Alpaca, a regulated broker and custodian. This custody arrangement ensures that the assets are secured within a bankruptcy-remote structure supervised by ADGM's financial regulator, providing institutional-grade security for non-US participants.

The deeper driver is the broader industry trend toward asset tokenization, which is rapidly expanding beyond cryptocurrencies. Per Woofun AI, banks and asset managers have already moved tens of billions of dollars of U.S. Treasuries, private credit, and investment funds onchain, according to RWA.xyz data. Citi projects that the total market for tokenized securities could reach $5.5 trillion by 2030, highlighting the substantial financial opportunity in digitizing traditional financial instruments.

Technically, Coinbase utilizes its B20 framework to issue tokens that offer direct claims on the underlying stock, with dividends and stock splits automatically reflected in the token balance. Once minted, these assets can be transferred between wallets without whitelisting restrictions. To facilitate trading and DeFi integration, Coinbase tapped Chainlink (LINK) to provide continuous price feeds, enabling decentralized exchanges like Aerodrome to use the stocks as collateral or in trading products.

This model allows investors to hold tokenized equities in self-custody wallets and trade them around the clock on supported onchain venues. By integrating with decentralized finance applications, users can potentially borrow against their stock holdings or engage in other onchain markets. Coinbase indicated that more stocks will follow this initial batch, signaling a long-term commitment to expanding the range of tokenized assets available to global investors.