Grayscale Report: Global Stock Market Tokenization Enters Three-Stage Evolution
Grayscale's research director Zach Pandl released a report indicating that the global stock market tokenization process has begun, which will provide users with conveniences such as 24/7 trading.
Equity tokenization is divided into three stages: the first stage is the third-party "packaging" model, currently accounting for over 70% of market value, primarily operating on chains like Ethereum and Solana; the second stage is the "equity" model represented by the DTCC pilot, utilizing regulated post-trade infrastructure; the third stage is the "issuer-initiated" model, where companies issue securities natively on-chain, with Securitize becoming the first NYSE-listed company to achieve this.
These three models will coexist in the coming years, promoting the deep integration of traditional equity and on-chain infrastructure.
Source: Public Information
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Grayscale has been tracking the intersection of crypto assets and traditional finance for a long time and has previously released several reports related to tokenization. Zach Pandl's team systematically summarizes the three-stage evolution, continuing their ongoing research path on the RWA sector. Securitize is highlighted as a case of a native on-chain issuer as an NYSE-listed company, indicating Grayscale's optimism about the issuer-initiated model.
In terms of capital pathways, Grayscale guides institutions to focus on the long-term potential of tokenization through reports, shifting resources from third-party packaging to native issuance. The motivation is to capture efficiency dividends such as 24/7 trading and enhanced liquidity, specifically promoting capital allocation from traditional stock markets to hybrid on-chain equity products.
Similar to the early paths of real estate and bond tokenization, the global stock market is currently in the early stages of transitioning from a dominant first stage to a parallel transformation involving the second and third stages. The DTCC pilot and the Securitize case mark a shift in regulatory and issuer attitudes.
Essentially, this is a restructuring of the industry chain: stock tokenization is reshaping the issuance, trading, and settlement processes of the global equity market, with the mechanism being the gradual replacement of traditional inefficient segments by the combination of regulatory infrastructure and native on-chain solutions, leading to a concentration of capital on on-chain platforms that support multiple coexisting models, ultimately achieving a structural integration of traditional finance and blockchain.
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- Packaging is just the starting point; native issuance is the true endgame of tokenization's market reconstruction.
- During the coexistence of the three stages, whoever masters the infrastructure transition capability will control the capital migration path.
- The liquidity premium brought by the convenience of 24/7 trading far exceeds the short-term regulatory friction costs.