This move will change MetaMask from a simple crypto wallet to a financial app.
At this time, MetaMask is not for storing or buying coins. Today, the most popular self-custodial wallet in the world announced that users can access Wall Street on the app. When they partner with Ondo Finance, 200 major U.S. stocks and ETFs are now available as digital tokens.
Users can access major Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) like the SPY (which tracks the S&P 500) and QQQ (which tracks the Nasdaq).They also include commodities like gold and oil.
Because these tokens are real shares which are held in the real world, minting and redeeming will happen on weekdays when the New York Stock Exchange is open. This will ensure that there is always real liquidity to backup the tokens.
However, when the tokens are in the user’s wallets, they have to follow the rules of crypto. Users can move them peer-to-peer or trade them on decentralized exchanges 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This will unlock liquidity that was stuck in the schedule of traditional banks.
This partnership is a strategic division of specific tasks. Ondo Finance will take care of legal works. They manage the compliance, make sure that the tokens are backed by real assets, and control the relationships with custodians.
This will make a strong reaction to the Real World Asset (RWA) market, which experts predict that the market will grow to $16 trillion in 2026.
For retailers, especially those outside the United States, this will offer to own U.S. assets while keeping control of their own private keys. They are not relying on a broker who can freeze their account for no reason, they own the asset on the blockchain.
Because these stocks can transfer into tokens, they could be used in DeFi protocols, for example, using tokenized Tesla shares as collateral to borrow stablecoins.
Similar to BlackRock’s “BUIDL” fund, this project proves that Wall Street is moving on-chain. But unlike BlackRock’s visions, Ondo and MetaMask partnered to bring these tokens to individual users.
