Tokenised stocks still need someone to vouch for the ledger, FT argues (opens the source in a new tab)
- Brendan Greeley argues that tokenisation, putting assets such as Treasuries, funds and now stocks on blockchains, speeds up trading but does not fix trust: buyers still need to know what the issuer holds and who stands behind it.
- He notes the SEC in September gave a temporary exemption letting firms make markets in tokenised stocks, and data provider rwa.xyz counts $39bn of tokenised real-world assets.
- Vanderbilt's Morgan Ricks tells him tokenisation is "just a different ledger"; regulated players such as BlackRock and JPMorgan carry the same old risks on new plumbing.
- $39bn
- tokenised real-world assets (rwa.xyz)
Why it matters Tokenised stocks and deposits are being sold as new finance. Investors should ask the old questions: what backs this, who audits it, and who pays if it fails.
Other side Round-the-clock settlement and cross-border trading are real gains, and well-regulated issuers can earn trust as they always have. Dismissing the technology risks missing cheaper, faster markets.