EToro Plans to Tokenize U.S. Stocks on Ethereum in Blockchain Push

Digital trading platform eToro (ETOR) shared plans on Tuesday to tokenized U.S-listed equities on the Ethereum blockchain, joining rivals to move towards blockchain-based marketplaces. The ERC-20 tokens will represent the underlying shares held on eToro and can be redeemed back into traditional stock holdings, according to the press release. The company said the aim is to make equities tradable on-chain and compatible with decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, opening the door to around-the-clock market access.

“Our goal is to tokenize every asset on eToro – starting with stocks – enabling our users to move tokenized assets onto the blockchain and from there integrate them into the broader DeFi ecosystem,” CEO Yoni Assia said in a statement.” He said that new crypto regulations like MiCA in Europe and the stablecoin-focused Genius Act in the U.S. “makes the tokenization of real-world assets a new opportunity to create digital assets that are legally backed and regulated.” 

The move will put eToro alongside a growing roster of trading venues that recently introduced tokenized equities. Competitor Robinhood announced its stock token trading for European users last month, while several crypto exchanges including Kraken, Gemini, Bybit also debuted similar features. EToro said its tokenized stock offering build on past experiences in tokenization, acquiring Danish token startup Firmo in 2019 and launching tokenized gold and silver.