Ondo Turns Tokenised US Stocks Into Perp Collateral, Testing Leverage Oversight

Ondo Finance, one of the largest issuers of tokenised real-world assets, has said that its onchain versions of US equities and exchange-traded funds can now be pledged as collateral for perpetual futures trading, a step that extends the use of tokenised stocks beyond simple exposure into leveraged derivatives markets, according to The Block.

The firm launched round-the-clock onchain access to more than 100 US-listed stocks and ETFs last year, part of a broader push by tokenisation platforms to bring traditional equity markets onto blockchain rails outside the constraints of exchange trading hours. Allowing those same tokenised shares to underpin perpetual futures positions marks a notable expansion in how the assets can be used within crypto-native trading venues.

From passive exposure to leveraged instrument

Perpetual futures, or “perps”, are derivatives contracts without an expiry date that allow traders to take leveraged long or short positions on an underlying asset. By accepting tokenised US stocks as collateral for such contracts, Ondo is effectively linking two previously separate strands of the tokenisation industry: fractional, 24/7 access to equities, and the leverage-heavy trading culture native to crypto derivatives platforms.

For institutional observers, the development illustrates how quickly tokenised real-world assets are being absorbed into the existing infrastructure of crypto markets, rather than remaining a standalone product for investors seeking simple equity exposure. Using equities as collateral for leveraged derivatives introduces additional layers of risk, including liquidation cascades if the value of the underlying tokenised shares falls sharply during periods when traditional stock exchanges are closed but crypto markets remain open.

Regulatory attention likely to follow

The move is likely to draw scrutiny from regulators who have already been examining how tokenised securities should be classified and supervised. In Europe, where the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation has begun to reshape custody and trading rules for digital assets, authorities have shown particular interest in products that blur the line between traditional securities and crypto-native trading mechanics.

Allowing tokenised equities to serve as margin for leveraged perpetual contracts raises questions familiar to securities regulators: whether existing investor protection frameworks for margin trading and collateral valuation apply, and how liquidations of tokenised stock collateral would be reconciled with underlying share ownership and settlement in traditional markets.

Ondo’s tokenised stock offering was designed to give investors continuous access to US equities without the restrictions of standard market hours. Extending that access into the derivatives space suggests issuers see growing demand for using such assets as flexible collateral across crypto trading venues, even as the regulatory framework for tokenised securities remains unsettled in most jurisdictions.

Read more: Tokenised TradFi Derivatives Hit $1.32tn, Testing Crypto Exchanges’ Risk Plumbing