ONDO rose about 16% on reports that the US Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing a framework that would allow tokenized versions of stocks to be traded on crypto rails, potentially giving one of the real asset sector’s most visible names a new regulatory tailwind. ONDO was trading around $0.390, up 15.5% over 24 hours, with a daily volume of around $228 million and a market cap of almost $1.9 billion.
The move followed a Bloomberg reportthat the SEC could release an “innovation exemption” for tokenized stocks as early as this week. The framework would reportedly create a path for digital versions of securities to trade outside of traditional exchange platforms and on decentralized crypto platforms, including tokens that may not have the permission or backing of the listed companies whose shares they track.
Why does ONDO benefit the most from the news?
For crypto markets, the report cut straight to one of the strongest stories of the year: tokenized public equities. The Kobeissi letter described the potential exemption via
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The market reaction focused on projects already positioned around on-chain securities. ONDO led gains among the major RWA-linked tokens, while traders also pointed to Hyperliquid as a potential beneficiary due to its role in on-chain derivatives. One account, The DeFi Investor, framed the report as “great news” for both HYPE and ONDO, arguing that it “legitimizes Ondo as the largest issuer of tokenized stocks,” while Hyperliquid “will be one of the biggest beneficiaries as the largest DEX for RWA perpetrators.”
Ondo’s own data points have given traders a concrete reason to tie the SEC report to the token. Ondo Global Markets recently surpassed $1 billion in total value, less than eight months after launching in September 2025. The platform owns more than 70% of the tokenized equity issuer market and has handled a cumulative trading volume of more than $18 billion. It currently offers over 260 tokenized US stocks and ETFs across Solana, Ethereum and BNB Chain.
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Katie Wheeler, Managing Director of Global Partnerships at Ondo Finance, said in a recent interview that the platform’s growth could further accelerate. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we surpass $5 billion by the end of the year. I know that seems a little bit cheap, but we have a lot of interest and we’re really building quite a pipeline.”
Wheeler’s broader argument is that tokenized stocks remain early relative to the size of public markets. “We’re literally just scratching the surface. This is a very big industry. So even if we did 1%, I think that would be great,” she said.
Tokenized stocks are just getting started.
After Ondo’s tokenized shares crossing $1 billion in TVL came Ondo’s @KatieAWheeler gave @DeStraat her end of year prediction:
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we crossed the $5 billion mark by the end of the year. We have a lot of interest and we’re quite… pic.twitter.com/sFIoiXqi8G
— Ondo Finance (@OndoFinance) May 18, 2026
Still, the reported SEC approach raises a core regulatory question: whether equity-linked tokens can scale without undermining shareholder protections. Bloomberg reported that the tokens may not offer traditional rights such as voting rights or dividends, while the source material indicates that platforms could lose their eligibility if listed products do not offer rights such as voting rights or dividends.
At the time of writing, ONDO was trading at $0.3871.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com