IMF: Tokenized Stocks Draw Off-Hours Trading but Run 1.5 Times as Volatile

The IMF found that more than half of tokenized U.S. stock trading happens outside regular market hours, but the roughly $2.3 billion market is more volatile and less liquid than the shares it tracks. The report says legal rules and market safeguards should be developed before the sector grows much larger.

Most tokenized stock trading happens when Wall Street is closed

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has put numbers on how tokenized U.S. stocks actually trade. According to Decrypt, over half of trading in tokenized equities takes place outside the regular U.S. trading day, and about 80% of trades are for a fraction of a share. CoinDesk reported the same findings and read them as evidence that investors value round-the-clock access and lower entry points, not only the underlying technology.

CoinDesk reported that the study sits in the IMF's Global Financial Stability Report under the title Scaling Tokenization: New efficiencies and new vulnerabilities. Decrypt said the analysis covered 11 trading venues over 365 days and focused on the five tokenized U.S. equities with the deepest liquidity.

What tokenized stocks are and who issues most of them

A tokenized stock is a blockchain token built to follow the price of a listed company's shares. Decrypt reported that two issuers, Ondo Finance and Backed Finance's xStocks, hold more than 70% of the market, and that both issue synthetic tokens. According to the IMF, such tokens give price exposure without direct ownership of the underlying shares.

CoinDesk noted that tokenized markets are also scattered across custodians, settlement tools, private platforms and public blockchains that often cannot work together. The outlet added that the promised savings in cost and time depend on enough issuers, investors and venues sharing compatible settlement systems.

The numbers behind the IMF's findings

The figures describe a market that is small, concentrated and more volatile than the equities it follows. Decrypt and CoinDesk together report the following.

• Market size: tokenized equities are worth roughly $2.3 billion, within a tokenized real-world asset market the IMF estimated at about $65 billion as of July 31, according to CoinDesk.
• Volatility: tokenized equities were about 1.5 times as volatile as the underlying stocks and far less liquid, especially on decentralized exchanges, according to Decrypt and CoinDesk.
• Price discovery: traditional shares took up 87% to 99% of overnight token moves after reopening, according to Decrypt, while CoinDesk reported more than 85% within five minutes of the open.
• Scale: SIFMA put 2025 global equity market capitalization at just under $160 trillion, according to CoinDesk.

Where Decrypt and CoinDesk differ on detail

The outlets agree on the main findings but frame price discovery differently. Decrypt wrote that, once markets reopened, traditional shares had taken up 87% to 99% of the price changes recorded overnight in the tokens. CoinDesk instead said that more than 85% of that movement showed up in traditional shares within five minutes of the U.S. open, a time window Decrypt does not mention.

The sample is also described differently. Decrypt described the five as the most liquid and named tokens tracking Tesla, Nvidia and the S&P 500, while CoinDesk described them as the most actively traded and named Tesla, Nvidia and Alphabet alongside the Nasdaq 100 Index. Neither lists all five. Only Decrypt gives the venue count, and only CoinDesk gives the $65 billion estimate for the wider tokenized asset market and the SIFMA comparison. CoinDesk also notes that its parent company, Bullish, introduced tokenized equity trading in August.

Why exchange entry raises the stakes for round-the-clock trading

Established market operators are moving in. Decrypt reported that the NYSE intends to serve crypto investors by way of Blockchain.com, while ICE, which owns the NYSE, is working with OKX on 24/7 trading of tokenized stocks under the SEC's new innovation exemption. CoinDesk said OKX and ICE filed plans earlier this month for a venue that would trade tokenized U.S. shares around the clock.

The IMF's response, per Decrypt, is that regulators should weigh circuit breakers for round-the-clock trading and keep a closer watch on links with traditional markets. A circuit breaker is a rule that pauses trading after a sharp price move so participants can reassess. CoinDesk set out the IMF's concerns: margin calls and liquidations that run automatically, collateral shifting between platforms and trading that never stops could together make a shock harder to contain. Decrypt said the IMF urged care in reading its findings given the market's early stage, and judged the systemic risks to be limited at present.

Crypto-native firms are expanding as well. Decrypt reported that Securitize has brought tokenized Nvidia, Apple and Amazon shares to Solana and that Coinbase launched tokenized stocks on Base in August for non-U.S. users.

Open questions for holders and token teams

Several questions are open. It is unclear whether the arrival of larger venues will narrow the liquidity and volatility gaps the IMF measured, or whether the share held by two issuers will change as more firms enter. Neither outlet reports that any regulator has acted on the circuit-breaker suggestion.

Holders can check a few points the IMF's findings make relevant. One is whether a token is a synthetic instrument or gives direct share ownership, a distinction Decrypt noted for the two largest issuers. Another is where it trades, because Decrypt reported that prices on decentralized exchanges strayed further from traditional markets. Teams building tokenization products can read CoinDesk's account as pointing to compatible systems, clear ownership rules and liquidity as the unfinished areas.

FAQ

How much tokenized stock trading happens outside U.S. market hours?

More than half, according to the IMF's latest Global Financial Stability Report as covered by Decrypt and CoinDesk. About 80% of trades also involve less than one share, which CoinDesk said the report treats as evidence of demand for 24/7 access and lower entry points.

How large is the tokenized stock market?

Both outlets cite roughly $2.3 billion for tokenized equities. CoinDesk adds that the IMF put the wider tokenized real-world asset market at about $65 billion as of July 31, while Decrypt reports that two issuers hold more than 70% of the equity segment.

What risks does the IMF see in 24/7 tokenized trading?

The IMF found tokenized equities about 1.5 times as volatile as the underlying shares and far less liquid. It said automated liquidations, collateral moving between platforms and round-the-clock trading could make shocks harder to contain, although risks remain limited while the market is small.

Sources

• Decrypt: Tokenized Stocks Show Real Demand But Remain Volatile and Illiquid, IMF Finds (2026-10-11)
• CoinDesk: IMF finds demand for tokenized stocks, says the market is still volatile, illiquid (2026-10-11)