The popular stock and crypto trading platform has taken a step towards a tokenized future with its latest offering.
eToro revealed its expanded product roadmap in a global webinar on Tuesday, highlighting three key developments as the company moves toward a “tokenized future.”
Part of that move is the expansion of its current stock trading to include an initial list of 100 of the most popular US-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds that will be tokenized and available to trade 24 hours a day, five days a week.
This allows users to trade traditional equities around the clock, responding to market events in real-time.
eToro co-founder and CEO Yoni Assia emphasized the company’s long-term belief in tokenization, citing blockchain’s potential to facilitate “the greatest ever transfer of wealth” as traditional assets move onto distributed ledger technology.
“We’ve been long-term believers in a tokenized future. Blockchain technology will facilitate the greatest ever transfer of wealth, as traditional assets are tokenized and moved onto the blockchain.”
He added that new regulations, such as MiCA in Europe and the passing of the GENIUS Act in the US, “make the tokenization of real-world assets a new opportunity to create digital assets that are legally backed and regulated.”
The US-listed equities will be launched as ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum blockchain with the longer-term goal to tokenize every asset on the platform eventually, said Assia.
“Our goal is to tokenize every asset on eToro – starting with stocks – enabling our users to move tokenized assets onto the blockchain and from there integrate them into the broader DeFi ecosystem.”
The move follows rival platform Robinhood, which launched tokenized versions of over 200 US stocks and ETFs for European customers in late June.
It is no surprise that Ethereum was selected as the blockchain of choice for eToro’s tokenized stocks, as it is the industry standard.
The total value on-chain for tokenized real-world assets is around $21.4 billion, and 55% of that is on Ethereum, according to RWA.xyz.
RWA tokenization value has surged 35% since the beginning of the year, and the trend is set to continue with big banks such as JPMorgan and large trading platforms like eToro and Robinhood getting in on the act.
Ethereum is likely to be the ultimate beneficiary, as pointed out by industry experts and executives who are increasingly eyeing Ether treasuries.
