Key points
- The tokenized stock market crossed USD 2.3 billion in July 2026, seven times its value a year earlier, according to Token Terminal.
- OKX, Coinbase, Robinhood and Kraken launched or expanded tokenized stocks in the last twelve months. Skipo has offered tokenized stocks in Chile since 2026 through xStocks.
- Tokenized stocks replicate the price of the real asset and pay dividends, but they do not grant corporate rights. Traditional stocks do grant ownership and voting rights, with the trading-hour limits and delays typical of the stock exchange system.
In the last twelve months, OKX, Coinbase, Robinhood and Kraken added tokenized stocks to their platforms. The market went from USD 329 million to USD 2.3 billion over the same period, according to Token Terminal. Stock tokenization is moving from experiment to a category in its own right within the global financial industry. In Chile, with Skipo you can invest in tokenized stocks (xStocks), directly in pesos and starting at CLP 1,000. In this article we compare tokenized stocks with traditional stocks and the advantages and disadvantages of each, and we explain why Skipo, along with the world's biggest platforms, is moving toward asset tokenization.
What are tokenized stocks and who issues them?
A tokenized stock is a digital representation of a real stock, issued on the blockchain and backed 1:1 by the underlying asset. When you buy a tokenized stock, you do not buy the stock directly on the exchange: you buy a token designed to track that stock's price and receive its dividends.
This is the same logic already used by other categories of tokenized assets on the market, such as stablecoins (which replicate the price of the dollar) or tokenized gold (which replicates the price of physical gold). In every case, a specialized issuer holds the real asset in custody and issues the equivalent token on the blockchain.
In the stock segment, the main issuers on the market are xStocks (backed by Backed Finance) and Ondo Global Markets. Each operates with its own infrastructure, asset catalog and network of distribution platforms. Skipo integrates with xStocks, the issuer with the highest cumulative volume and the largest base of unique holders in the tokenized stock market, to list these assets in the app. For a more detailed overview of what they are and how they work in Chile, see our guide on tokenized stocks and how to invest from Chile.
How much has the tokenized stock market grown?
In July 2026, the global market capitalization of tokenized stocks reached USD 2.3 billion, according to Token Terminal. A year earlier, the figure was USD 329 million. The subcategory crossed USD 1 billion in March 2026 and doubled in size over the following four months.
That growth comes with operating data that confirms real usage, not cumulative figures from a single integration:
- xStocks surpassed USD 25 billion in cumulative volume since its launch in June 2025 (Kraken, February 2026), with more than 85,000 unique holders as of March 2026.
- In June 2026, Solana processed USD 2 billion in monthly tokenized stock volume, the highest figure ever recorded for a single chain in one month.
- On June 24, 2026, daily tokenized stock volume on Solana reached USD 644 million, surpassing memecoins for the first time as a share of that network's spot volume.
The broader context is also supportive. The total market for tokenized real-world assets (RWA), excluding stablecoins, closed July 2026 at USD 31 billion, with growth of more than 400% since January 2025, according to RWA.xyz. Stocks are one of the fastest-growing categories in that universe, along with tokenized Treasury bonds.
How do tokenized stocks differ from traditional stocks?
The main difference lies in the structure of the instrument and the technology behind it.
A traditional stock is a financial instrument issued and traded on a stock exchange (NYSE, Nasdaq, the Santiago Stock Exchange). When you buy it, you become a shareholder of a fraction of the company. That stake comes with shareholder rights: voting at shareholder meetings, taking part in corporate decisions and receiving dividends declared by the company directly. The purchase is executed during market hours, settles in one to two business days (T+1 or T+2) and usually requires opening an account with a broker that operates in that market.
A tokenized stock is a digital token on the blockchain, issued by a tokenization provider that holds the real stock in custody in traditional markets. When you buy it, you get exposure to the price of the underlying asset and receive its dividends, automatically reinvested into your balance of the same asset. You do not buy the stock directly. As a result, you do not become a shareholder of the company, but you do track the performance of the real asset continuously, with instant settlement and without depending on the hours of the original stock exchange.
The distinction is not abstract. It defines what each instrument gives you and what it does not.
What advantages do tokenized stocks have over traditional ones?
Tokenized stocks emerged because they solve concrete frictions in the traditional stock market model. The main ones:
- 24/7 or 24/5 availability. You buy and sell without depending on Wall Street hours or US financial calendar holidays. Hours depend on each xStock.
- Instant settlement. The trade is confirmed and shows up in your balance in seconds, not business days. When you sell, the balance is available instantly to reinvest or withdraw.
- Direct purchase in pesos. This is one of the exclusive advantages of investing in tokenized stocks with Skipo. By removing the dollar conversion layer, you eliminate the exchange rate spread that traditional stock platforms usually add, between 0.5% and 1% of the real cost of each trade.
- Automatic dividends. When the underlying company pays a dividend, the payment is automatically credited to your balance of the same tokenized asset. In xStocks this adjustment is made through a mechanism called a multiplier, which updates the value of each token to reflect the reinvested dividend. In practice, your balance of the asset increases without you having to do anything.
- Buying and selling with no fees. Another advantage of trading tokenized stocks through Skipo is that we do not charge fees for buying, selling or maintaining your account. While other platforms charge you a fee on every transaction, plus the exchange rate spread for making you buy in dollars, at Skipo we have brought those costs down to CLP 0.
These advantages explain why the segment's growth comes not only from crypto users moving into stocks, but also from traditional stock investors adding the tokenized format as a complementary or alternative form of exposure.
What do traditional stocks keep that tokenized ones do not replace?
Recognizing what tokenized stocks do not provide is as important as listing their advantages. The structural advantage that traditional stocks keep, and that tokenized stocks do not replace today, is one:
Direct ownership of the asset and shareholder rights. When you buy a traditional stock, you become a shareholder of the company. That means you take part in meetings, vote on corporate decisions and appear in the company's shareholder registers. When you buy a tokenized stock, you buy a digital representation backed 1:1 by a real share held in custody, not the share itself. You get exposure to the price and dividends, but not shareholder rights.
For most retail investors (people seeking exposure to the performance of a listed company, not to take part in its corporate governance), this distinction is more technical than practical. For an institutional shareholder, or for someone who explicitly values taking part in the decisions of the companies they invest in, the difference is material.
Beyond that axis, the comparison between the two instruments comes down to operational factors: hours, costs, timing and purchase currency.
Why are the world's biggest platforms adopting tokenized stocks?
In the last twelve months, four of the industry's biggest platforms added or expanded tokenized stocks. The sequence matters because it shows this is no longer an isolated experiment, but a structural convergence:
- Kraken and xStocks. Kraken launched xStocks in June 2025 as its tokenized stock platform, backed by Backed Finance. In February 2026 it announced the product had surpassed USD 25 billion in cumulative volume, and in March 2026 it formalized a partnership with Nasdaq to bring tokenized stocks to the Solana DeFi ecosystem.
- Robinhood. On June 30, 2025, it launched stock tokens in the European Union for 200 US stocks and ETFs on Arbitrum. In 2026 it expanded the catalog to more than 2,000 tokens and announced the development of its own layer 2 focused on tokenizing real-world assets. Its CEO, Vlad Tenev, publicly described tokenization as a trend that can no longer be stopped (Token2049 Singapore, October 2025).
- Coinbase. On June 16, 2026, it announced the upcoming launch of 1:1 tokenized stocks backed by real shares, with automatic dividend payments, available to customers outside the US. The company framed the product as part of its ambition to become an everything exchange for financial assets.
- OKX. On July 15 and 16, 2026, it launched Unified Tokenized Stocks, a product with more than 40 tokenized US stocks and ETFs under X-prefixed tickers (XAAPL, XNVDA, XTSLA), backed by xStocks. In parallel, ICE (NYSE's parent company) formalized an investment of approximately USD 200 million in OKX at a USD 25 billion valuation, with the goal of launching tokenized NYSE stocks in the second half of 2026.
Behind the list is the same diagnosis. The convergence between the traditional stock market and blockchain infrastructure solves limitations that are no longer technologically justified: limited hours, settlement in business days and currency friction from converting to dollars. At Skipo we see that this convergence stops being a thesis and becomes financial infrastructure when platforms the size of Kraken, Robinhood, Coinbase and OKX adopt it in consecutive months. Chile is part of that same wave. For a local angle on how this convergence is taking shape at the infrastructure level, see our analysis of Robinhood Chain and the volume it captured in its first two weeks.
How do you invest in tokenized stocks with Skipo?
With Skipo you can invest in tokenized stocks of Apple, Tesla, NVIDIA, Alphabet and other US companies, plus tokenized S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 ETFs. Hours depend on each xStock: some, like Apple, NVIDIA, Tesla or the S&P 500, trade 24/7, and the rest 24/5, Monday to Friday. You buy and sell directly in pesos, with no dollar conversion, no exchange rate spread and no buy or sell fees. Settlement is immediate: when you sell, the balance is available in your wallet in seconds, and withdrawals to your Chilean bank are completed in approximately two minutes.
Skipo integrates with xStocks, the tokenization provider with the highest cumulative volume and the largest base of unique holders on the market. The assets you see on Skipo are backed 1:1 by real shares, held in custody in traditional markets, and track the price of the underlying asset in real time. Dividends paid by the company are automatically credited to your balance of the same asset, without you having to take any action.
Skipo is registered in the CMF's Registry of Financial Service Providers, and its authorization to operate is in process under the Fintech Law (Law No. 21.521). It also holds ISO 27001:2022 certification in information security. It is the only Chilean platform that currently offers access to tokenized stocks through xStocks, integrated in the same app alongside cryptocurrencies, tokenized gold and an interest-bearing account.
Skipo vs Chilean stock investment platforms
When you compare Skipo with other Chilean fintech platforms that give access to US stocks, the structural difference is that Skipo works with tokenized stocks and the others with traditional stocks through brokers in the US or Chile. That shapes the hours, purchase currency, settlement and catalog. For a more detailed review of this landscape, see our comparison of platforms for investing in stocks in Chile.
| Criterion | Skipo | Racional | Trii | Zesty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product | Tokenized stocks | Traditional stocks | Traditional stocks | Traditional stocks |
| Buy and sell fee | 0% | CLP 0 with 10 transactions a month on the Free plan | 0.15% + VAT | 0.15% + VAT in Chile, 0.3% in the US |
| Direct purchase in pesos | Yes | No, requires conversion to dollars | Yes for Chilean stocks, requires dollars for global ones | Yes for Chilean stocks, exchange rate spread of CLP 8 to CLP 10 per dollar for the US |
| Availability | 24/7 or 24/5 | US market hours | Market hours | Market hours |
| Settlement and withdrawal to bank | Immediate when selling, withdrawal to bank in approximately 2 minutes | T+2 when selling, withdrawal to bank in business days | T+1 or T+2 when selling, withdrawal to bank in business days | T+1 or T+2 when selling, withdrawal to bank in business days |
Frequently asked questions
What are tokenized stocks?
Tokenized stocks are digital representations of real stocks, issued on the blockchain and backed 1:1 by the underlying shares, held in custody in traditional markets. They replicate the price of the real asset and pay dividends, but they do not make you a shareholder of the company or give you shareholder rights.
Who issues tokenized stocks and who holds them in custody?
The main issuers on the market are xStocks (backed by Backed Finance) and Ondo Global Markets. Each issuer holds the real shares in custody on the original stock market and issues the equivalent token on the blockchain. Skipo integrates with xStocks to list these assets in the app.
How fast is the tokenized stock market growing?
The global market capitalization of tokenized stocks reached USD 2.3 billion in July 2026, seven times its size a year earlier, according to Token Terminal. xStocks, the largest provider in the segment, surpassed USD 25 billion in cumulative volume since its launch in June 2025 (Kraken, February 2026).
Do I receive dividends if I invest in tokenized stocks on Skipo?
Yes. When the underlying company pays a dividend, the payment is automatically credited to your balance of the same tokenized asset, through a mechanism called a multiplier. Your balance of the asset increases to reflect the reinvested dividend without you having to take any action.
Do I have voting rights at shareholder meetings if I invest in tokenized stocks?
No. Tokenized stocks give you exposure to the price of the underlying asset and its dividends, but they do not grant shareholder rights, such as voting at meetings or taking part in the company's decisions. If your goal is to take an active part in the corporate decisions of the companies you invest in, traditional stocks are the right instrument. If you are looking for exposure to performance, both formats do the job.
What is the difference between investing in tokenized stocks with Skipo and with a traditional broker in Chile?
With Skipo you buy tokenized stocks directly in pesos, with no dollar conversion, no fees and 24/7 or 24/5 availability depending on the xStock. Settlement is immediate and withdrawals to a Chilean bank take approximately two minutes. With a traditional broker in Chile you buy real shares of the company (with shareholder rights), but you trade during market hours, with buy and sell fees, conversion to dollars with an exchange rate spread in the case of US stocks, and settlement in one to two business days.
Is Skipo registered with the CMF?
Yes. Skipo is registered in the CMF's Registry of Financial Service Providers, with its authorization to operate in process, is registered with the Financial Analysis Unit (UAF) and holds ISO 27001:2022 certification in information security.
