Tokenised stocks vs private equity vs perp equities

Onchain equity has fractured into three distinct product layers: tokenized spot ownership (xStocks/Backed, Ondo Global Markets), pre-IPO private equity tokens (PreStocks, Ventuals, Trade.xyz), and equity perpetual futures (Ostium, Gains Network/gTrade, Hyperliquid equity markets). Ostium alone has processed $58B+ in cumulative perp notional since 2024 — the tokenized spot equity sector holds ~$1.2B in combined TVL. The central question: is onchain equity an asset product or a trading product? The data answers decisively.

The ratio tells the whole story. Ostium's ~$5.2B in 30-day perp volume against the combined ~$1.2B TVL of the tokenized spot equity market (Ondo + xStocks) implies a velocity multiple of ~4× on AUM — and far higher when comparing actual trading volumes, where Ostium's ~$97M/day notional dwarfs estimated on-chain DEX swap volume for tokenized stocks by an estimated 20–50×. Three equity perp venues now command more aggregate notional than the entire tokenized spot ownership sector combined. Onchain equity is, for now, overwhelmingly a speculative trading instrument — not a vehicle for genuine equity ownership transfer.

Ondo Global Markets and xStocks (Backed/Kraken) hold ~94% of the tokenized public equity market and have formed a clear duopoly. As of May 2026, Ondo commands >70% market share with $1B+ TVL across Solana, Ethereum, and BNB Chain — 260+ tokenized US stocks and ETFs, $18B+ cumulative trading volume since September 2025 launch. xStocks (acquired by Kraken in Dec 2025, backed by Citadel Securities, Jane Street, and DRW) holds ~24% with 100+ assets and 100K+ unique holders, and $25B+ in combined CEX/DEX transaction volume since June 2025.

Both platforms offer 1:1-backed tokens with real equity custodied off-chain — genuine ownership vehicles. But the dominant routing is still through centralized exchange rails (Kraken), not on-chain DEX swaps, limiting composability and DeFi integration that would let these assets realize their full programmability premium.

Ventuals and PreStocks have built a $1B+ combined shadow market for SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic — pricing companies 24/7 with leverage that traditional secondary markets cannot offer. Activity surged 3× from Jan–May 2026 as AI unicorn mania drove speculative demand. SpaceX crossed $1T implied valuation on Ventuals (the first private company in history to do so), now trading at $1.63T. Anthropic sits at $650B implied — a 71% premium to its latest $380B funding round, with the onchain market pricing the next round before it happens.

Product structure divergence matters critically:

• Ventuals = pure perpetual futures (synthetic only, no equity claim)
• PreStocks = SPV-backed tokens (purport to hold real equity via SPV; legal status contested)
• Trade.xyz on Hyperliquid = perp futures on private names

⚠️ Regulatory risk is acute: Anthropic has publicly warned SPV structures may carry no legal value. OpenAI opposed Robinhood's tokenized stock product. The pre-IPO tokenization sector operates in a legal grey zone — price discovery is genuine, ownership claims are not. A regulatory intervention or company action could reset these markets instantly. Per Pantera Capital (June 9, 2026): late-stage pre-IPO names dominate early-stage platforms by over 10×.

Equity perp venues generate fees from opening/closing spreads, oracle fees, liquidation fees, and rollover. Ostium updated its revenue model in April 2026 to capture 100% of dev opening fees, oracle fees, and trading spreads — making it a high-margin business on a $58B+ cumulative notional base. Partnership with Nasdaq (May 2026) adds official price feed credibility and distribution. Gains Network distributes protocol revenue to GNS token stakers and liquidity providers. The income statements below quantify the fee economics of the two largest tracked equity perp venues.

Full issuer breakdown across both the spot tokenized equity (RWA) layer and the derivatives (perps) layer. The RWA table covers all on-chain real-world asset issuers — filter to equities/stocks to isolate the tokenized stock segment. The perps table shows all onchain perpetual venues ranked by volume, fees, and open interest — Ostium, Gains Network, and Hyperliquid are the key equity-perp players.