Tokenized-Equity Value Reaches $3.8 Billion as DEX Volume Falls

Tokenized-equity market value reached an estimated $3.8 billion for the week of Oct. 5, while decentralized exchange trading remained well below its late-August peak.

The estimate for the week of Oct. 5 was 5.8 times the $654 million level for the week of Jan. 5. Weekly spot trading on decentralized exchanges, or DEXs, reached $2.54 billion, up from $45.8 million in the same comparison, a 55-fold increase.

Trading did not climb steadily. The Aug. 31 week marked the high at $7.26 billion; Robinhood Chain represented $5.36 billion, or 74%, of that total. By the week of Oct. 5, volume had fallen about 65% from that high.

Transfers between blockchain addresses totaled $17.5 billion for the week of Oct. 5, compared with $420 million for the week of Jan. 5. That broader measure includes movements involving lending protocols, so it covers activity beyond exchange trades.

Use in decentralized finance (DeFi) also grew. Tokenized equities deployed in DeFi reached $313 million through Oct. 15, up from $15.5 million on Jan. 1. The total gained $33.2 million, or 12%, in the preceding 30 days.

For the week of Oct. 5, issuer values were $1 billion for Ondo Finance, $954 million for xStocks and $905 million for Binance’s bStocks. In October, Solana accounted for 31% of spot DEX volume, followed by Robinhood Chain at 26%, BNB Chain at 25% and Base at 18%.

The sample covered five liquid U.S. tokenized equities across 11 venues. It represented about $345 million in reported market value and spanned 365 trading days, with more than two million five-minute price and volume observations. Trading outside regular U.S. market hours made up more than half of the activity; roughly four in five transactions involved less than one share. Realized volatility was about one and a half times the level for comparable traditional equities, and decentralized exchanges ranked lowest for liquidity among the venues studied.

Tokenized equities can carry different legal rights depending on their structure. Custodial products can be linked to shares held in custody, while synthetic or special-purpose vehicle models can provide economic exposure without direct ownership of the shares. Legal certainty, regulatory clarity, cross-network compatibility and secure settlement remain barriers to broader growth.