I've just noticed a pretty interesting trend in the market: since early 2025, the market capitalization of equity tokens has grown nearly 3.5 times. This is no coincidence—it's showing a major shift toward tokenization of real-world assets starting from outdated infrastructure.

So here’s the deal, the global stock market is worth more than $150 trillion, but the system still uses infrastructure built decades ago. Trading is only available five days a week, settlement is super complicated because of many intermediaries, and access to high-growth companies? Yeah, limited to certain investors only. Major institutions like NYSE, Nasdaq, and DTCC have already started developing tokenized stock infrastructure to solve these issues.

Tokenization of equity can actually address three major gaps in the traditional market. First, 24/7 nonstop trading, not just during regular hours. Currently, about 11% of US stock trading happens outside normal hours, and if the system supported 24 hours, new information could be incorporated into prices faster. Second, ownership tracking becomes simpler—no need to go through brokers, clearinghouses, or central custodians. With blockchain, owners can directly track their assets, even use equity as collateral for on-chain loans or put it into liquidity pools to generate income. In traditional markets, all that requires multiple intermediaries and hefty broker fees. It’s estimated this could save $5-10 billion annually for the stock industry.

But what I find most interesting is access to the private market. SEC regulations are pretty strict—investors need a net worth of $1 million or an income of $200K per year to access private offerings. Private companies also have to manage shareholder numbers to stay unregistered. As a result, most investors almost never get the chance to invest in high-growth startups before they go public.

Tokenization opens new opportunities here. The most common structure now is using a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)—the SPV holds the underlying shares, while the token represents economic claims against that entity. Robinhood recently announced tokens for OpenAI and SpaceX for qualified users in the EU, giving exposure to two of the most sought-after companies in the world. This is an example of venture capital firms and startups that were previously inaccessible to retail investors.

But there’s an important catch. Tokens don’t always represent direct ownership—depends on the issuer’s design. Robinhood’s SpaceX token, for example, isn’t clear on whether it grants priority rights or can be converted into common shares if SpaceX goes public. Unlike preferred vs. common stock, which have clear liquidation priorities, voting rights, and return characteristics. Without clarity on this, investors find it hard to price and compare tokens from the same company. So many private equity tokens actually provide economic exposure, not direct ownership.

Despite this structural ambiguity, investor demand for private market access continues to rise. Surveys show about 90% of Americans are willing to allocate part of their retirement savings to private assets, especially Gen Z and Millennials who are more aggressive. This, combined with the trend of companies staying private longer—makes equity tokenization increasingly relevant. It’s not just about 24/7 trading or reducing friction, but about democratizing access to opportunities that were previously exclusive to top-tier venture capital firms and institutional investors. This shift will reshape how people build financial ownership in the blockchain era.