Binance has just taken second place in the tokenized stocks market by value. Launched on June 11, bStocks shows about 610.6 million dollars, compared to 601.2 million for Kraken’s xStocks. It
Binance has just taken second place in the tokenized stocks market by value. Launched on June 11, bStocks shows about 610.6 million dollars, compared to 601.2 million for Kraken’s xStocks. It took less than two months to reverse the ranking. Ondo Finance remains ahead of the two platforms.
Binance’s return to tokenized stocks was expected since the beginning of the year. The platform was already preparing its comeback in this market five years after its first attempt. This time, the start is quick.
On August 3, bStocks had reached about 624 million dollars in value, compared to 579 million for xStocks. Ondo Finance was still far ahead with about 927 million. On Tuesday, the gap between Binance and Kraken had narrowed: 610.6 million for bStocks and 601.2 million for xStocks.
Second place is thus held by less than 10 million dollars. Nothing insurmountable for Kraken.
The speed remains. Binance launched bStocks on June 11 to provide access to US stocks via blockchain tokens. The user obtains exposure to the stock without directly owning the underlying share. Changpeng Zhao notably attributes the product’s growth to Binance’s large user base.
The platform indeed has a clear advantage. Indeed, it does not need to build its audience from scratch. Each new product can be offered to a mass of traders already present in its ecosystem. For Kraken, the competition is therefore becoming more serious than just a few weeks ago.
Your 1st cryptos with BinanceThis link uses an affiliate program.The battle between Binance and Kraken takes place in a market that has completely changed in size.
A year ago, xStocks dominated with only 40.7 million dollars. Robinhood followed with 37.2 million. Ondo then represented about 65,000 dollars according to the data. Today, the total value tracked by Token Terminal is around 2.7 billion dollars, compared to about 80 million a year earlier.
Transfers are also accelerating. In July, tokenized stocks had already recorded 8.41 billion dollars in monthly transfers, a 105% increase over thirty days. The distributed value of the sector then reached 2.16 billion dollars. This better explains why exchanges are rushing in.
A tokenized stock notably allows buying fractions of shares and transferring them on the blockchain. Depending on the product structure, it may also circulate outside traditional stock exchange hours. However, buying the token does not automatically mean becoming a shareholder of the company concerned.
This is a fairly important nuance. Rights to dividends, voting, or reimbursement may vary depending on the issuer and the legal structure chosen. The current success thus depends as much on distribution as on technology. Binance has precisely just shown what a huge user base can bring.
The first place hasn’t changed. Ondo Finance maintains a comfortable lead and remains the main player tracked by Token Terminal.
Binance has therefore not yet taken control of the market. And Kraken lost its second place by only a few million dollars. The ranking can still change quickly.
There is still an amusing contrast. In 2021, Binance had abandoned its first tokenized stocks after a few months amid regulatory pressures in Europe. Five years later, the exchange returns and is already second.
The sector itself has little to do with what it was in 2021. Crypto exchanges, fintechs, and several financial institutions are now working on tradable securities on blockchain. Even traditional stock exchange infrastructures are experimenting with tokenization.
CZ is pushing this idea much further. He recently called on states to directly tokenize their stock markets to broaden access for international investors. For Binance, bStocks already offers a first glimpse of this ambition. Two months were enough to surpass Kraken. Now remains Ondo, with a few hundred million dollars in advance. The next battle is all set.
