Switzerland Opens Door to 24/7 Stock Trading Through Tokenization

A Swiss digital asset exchange backed by Europe's sixth-largest exchange group has struck a deal with a U.S. tokenization firm to enable trading of over 100 tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds ahead of its formal market launch.

BX Digital, which operates under a distributed ledger technology trading license from Switzerland's financial regulator FINMA, will list tokenized securities issued by Ondo Finance through its Ondo Global Markets platform. The arrangement gives European investors access to blockchain-based versions of U.S. equities that can settle in real time and transfer across digital wallets.

Tokenized Stock Trading in Switzerland

BX Digital received its FINMA license as Switzerland's first regulated DLT trading facility in March. It positions the exchange to handle multilateral trading of tokenized securities with settlement tied to the Swiss National Bank's payment system. The platform uses audited smart contracts for delivery-versus-payment settlement, typically completing transactions within 30 minutes compared to the two-day standard in traditional markets.Ian De Bode, Chief Strategy Officer of Ondo Finance

“As one of the first firms preparing the admission of tokenized products on BX Digital, we're demonstrating how tokenized assets can deliver the accessibility, transparency, and efficiency investors expect in established financial markets,” said Ian De Bode, Chief Strategy Officer of Ondo Finance.

The move adds to a wave of platforms competing to tokenize traditional securities, from Kraken and Bybit's xStocks offerings to Robinhood's 200-stock pilot for EU users. Unlike earlier experiments that stumbled over regulatory uncertainty, current efforts launch through licensed entities in jurisdictions like Switzerland that have built legal frameworks specifically for blockchain-based financial infrastructure.

Custody Model Raises Familiar Questions

Ondo's tokenized products are backed by underlying stocks and ETFs held with licensed U.S. custodial broker-dealers, along with cash in transit. The structure mirrors other tokenized equity offerings that have drawn scrutiny over whether they constitute repackaged derivatives rather than direct ownership.Lidia Kurt, Chief Executive Officer of BX Digital

Lidia Kurt, Chief Executive Officer of BX Digital, said the partnership with Ondo “underscores our ambition to provide issuers worldwide with a trusted and regulated environment for innovative digital asset products.”

Token holders don't receive voting rights or dividends unless specified, and they depend on the issuer's custody arrangements and operational continuity. Dubai-based exchange executive Anton Golub previously described such products as “wrappers” that introduce counterparty risk absent in traditional brokerage accounts.

Still, institutional interest in compliant tokenization infrastructure has grown. Ondo Global Markets reported its tokenized equity platform reached $350 million in total value locked within weeks of its September launch on Ethereum, with plans to expand to BNB Chain and Solana.

Europe Pulls Ahead on Regulatory Clarity

Switzerland's DLT Act, which took effect in 2021, recognizes tokenized securities as legally enforceable and permits their direct registration on blockchain-based ledgers. The framework gives firms like BX Digital regulatory certainty that remains elusive in the U.S., where the SEC has yet to approve retail tokenized stock trading despite Commissioner Hester Peirce's recent statements that the agency is “willing to work with people who want to tokenize.”

Across Europe, the EU's DLT Pilot Regime launched in March 2023 allows approved market infrastructure operators to test trading and settlement of tokenized financial instruments under temporary exemptions from certain MiFID and central securities depository rules. Several member states including Germany and Luxembourg have enacted specific legislation to enable blockchain-native securities.

BX Digital operates under the Boerse Stuttgart Group alongside BX Swiss, Switzerland's second-largest stock exchange. The group's Seturion platform launched in September as a pan-European settlement system for tokenized assets, supporting both public and private blockchains with settlement in central bank money or on-chain cash.

Market Projections Hit $2 Trillion

McKinsey analysis estimates the market capitalization of tokenized assets could reach approximately $2 trillion by 2030, excluding cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. That projection encompasses mutual funds, bonds, exchange-traded notes, loans and securitization products moving onto blockchain infrastructure.

Current real-world asset tokenization holds $31 billion in market value, with tokenized stocks accounting for $714 million of that total according to RWA.xyz. Backed Finance's xStocks offering surpassed $300 million in trading volume within four weeks of launching on Solana through partnerships with Kraken and Bybit.

The crypto exchange Coinbase has submitted applications to the SEC seeking approval to offer tokenized stock trading to U.S. customers, while Alpaca launched its Instant Tokenization Network at Singapore's TOKEN2049 conference to facilitate in-kind creation and redemption of tokenized equities.