Real-world asset (RWA) tokenization platform Ondo Finance has started a new business aimed at bringing US securities, including stocks, bonds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) onchain.
Ondo Finance has launched Ondo Global Markets (Ondo GM), a blockchain-based solution seeking to bring financial markets onchain and make them more accessible and efficient. In a blog post, the company said the new business will solve challenges to the traditional securities landscape:
“The current investing experience is broken. High fees, limited access, transfer frictions, platform fragmentation, and hidden risks create barriers for both investors and the companies that serve them.”
Ondo Finance compared the outlook for the new platform with the impact made on the accessibility of US dollars by stablecoins.
Source: Ondo Finance
Bringing financial markets onchain
Ondo Finance said the solution to traditional securities markets lies in blockchain technology.
“By leveraging blockchain technology, we can bring institutional-grade financial markets onchain, making them more accessible, transparent, and efficient,” it said.
Ondo Finance said it conducted dialogues with developers, its traditional finance partners and government officials and found that the community was ready to unlock blockchain’s potential for financial markets.
With stablecoins as its reference, Ondo GM will facilitate the creation of transferable tokens connected to stocks, bonds and ETFs.
Ondo said the platform would bring exposure to over 1,000 securities listed on the NYSE and Nasdaq, including equity, fixed-income ETFs and individual stocks of companies like Apple, Tesla and Uber. “Each token is backed 1:1 by the security it tracks,” Ondo said.
Ondo added that asset trading would be available continually from anywhere in the world.
Related: Tokenized RWA markets return to ATH levels as tokens lead crypto recovery
Traditional exchanges to expand trading hours
With the rise of onchain trading, traditional exchanges are making adjustments to stay competitive.
On Feb. 3, Cboe Global Markets, one of the largest securities exchanges, announced plans to roll out 24-hour weekday trading. The exchange said the change aims to meet global customer demand for expanded access to US equities.
The change also comes as RWA tokenization platforms increasingly offer an always-available alternative to traditional markets.
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