Key Takeaways
- Backed Finance’s xStocks and Ondo’s Global Markets compete in the emerging tokenized stocks sector.
- With more exchange listings, xStocks has greater potential for retail adoption.
- However, Ondo’s offering is designed for deeper liquidity.
Among a crop of tokenized stock platforms that offer equity exposure with crypto-style access, Backed Finance’s xStocks and Ondo’s offering have emerged as frontrunners.
With both products competing for users in a rapidly expanding market, crypto exchange listings are critical drivers of adoption.
Comparing xStocks and Ondo Global Markets
Both launched in 2025, xStocks and Ondo have much in common.
Tokenized U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are backed one-for-one by the underlying equities, which are held by specially segregated, secure custodians.
However, there are some subtle but important differences.
Ondo currently runs on Ethereum and BNB, while support for Solana and a new proprietary blockchain is planned for the future.
Meanwhile, xStocks, which has a headstart of several months, is live on Ethereum and Solana, with BNB Chain and TRON integrations in the works.
In terms of investments on offer, Ondo debuted over 100 stocks and ETFs at launch, and is targeting more than 1,000 assets by the end of 2025.
Backed Finance offers a smaller array of around 60 tokenized equities.
The two issuers also use different legal structures. While xStocks relies on EU custodians under a Swiss regulatory framework, Ondo entrusts the underlying assets to U.S.-registered entities.
Competing For Exchange Support
Issued using common token standards, tokenized stocks from xStocks and Ondo have been listed on major crypto exchanges.
Ondo tokens are listed on four centralized crypto exchanges (CEXs), as well as the company’s proprietary “Global Markets” platform.
Meanwhile, seven CEXs have listed xStocks tokenized equities.
Decentralized exchanges have also entered the fray.
At the time of writing, 37 xStocks tokens were live on Jupiter.
They are also supported by Raydium and Kamino, although there is currently zero trading volume.
Meanwhile, Ondo has taken the lead on the BNB Chain, where its tokenized stocks were launched on PancakeSwap in October. (The DEX also supports xStocks products in theory, but not in practice.)
Finally, tokens from both issuers have been listed on regulated digital securities exchanges, including Assetera, INX, and BX Digital.
Ondo Global Markets vs. xStock: Exchange Listings
| Exchange |
Ondo Global Markets |
xStocks |
| Bitget |
✔ |
🗙 |
| Bitget Onchain |
✔ |
✔ |
| Bybit |
🗙 |
✔ |
| Cake Wallet |
🗙 |
✔ |
| Gate.io |
✔ |
✔ |
| Kraken |
🗙 |
✔ |
| KuCoin |
🗙 |
✔ |
| LBank |
🗙 |
✔ |
| MEXC |
🗙 |
✔ |
| Jupiter |
🗙 |
✔ |
| PancakeSwap |
✔ |
🗙 |
| Assetera |
🗙 |
✔ |
| INX |
🗙 |
✔ |
| BX Digital |
✔ |
🗙 |
| Ondo Global Markets |
✔ |
🗙 |
Total Value Locked on Tokenized Stock Platforms
Despite having a three-month head start and more exchange exposure, xStocks has fallen behind Ondo Global Markets’ Total Value Locked (TVL).
Since its launch, Ondo’s tokenized stock platform has amassed a TVL of over $360 million, while xStocks’ TVL remains around $99 million.
The discrepancy reflects the different types of users each company caters to.
Backed Finance has mostly targeted the retail market, aggressively pursuing exchange listings to get its product in front of crypto investors.
In contrast, Ondo is able to tap into an existing user base of institutional investors, which it cultivated over years as one of the world’s leading tokenized treasury firms.
Speaking to CCN, Ondo Finance CSO Ian De Bode explained that the firm’s efficient minting and redemption mechanism was designed to ensure deep liquidity and low slippage on the secondary market.
By making the process as frictionless as possible, he said, Ondo ensures arbitrageurs can easily step in to keep exchange prices in line.
In contrast, xStocks initial rollout was plagued by liquidity challenges.
In some cases, tokens were observed trading on exchanges at a double digit premium compared to the underlying assets.
If anything, xStocks’ numerous exchange listings exacerbate the problem, spreading liquidity across multiple venues, leading to wide spreads and reduced arbitrage efficiency.
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James Morales is CCN’s blockchain and crypto policy reporter. He has been working in the news media since 2020, writing about topics such as payments, banking and financial technology. These days, he likes to explore the latest blockchain innovations and the evolving landscape of global crypto regulation.
With an educational background in social anthropology and media studies, James uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.
