IMF Study Finds Real Demand for Tokenized Stocks — and Real Liquidity Problems

Tokenized stocks just got their most credible reality check yet. The IMF studied how they actually trade — and found real demand sitting right next to some ugly liquidity numbers.

Half the action happens while Wall Street sleeps

More than half of all tokenized equity trading goes down outside regular U.S. market hours.

About 80% of trades are for less than one full share, a clear signal that retail investors genuinely want fractional ownership.

The study tracked the five most liquid tokenized U.S. equities — including tokens tied to Tesla, Nvidia and the S&P 500 — across 11 venues over 365 days.

Onchain prices aren't just noise

When traditional markets reopened, conventional shares absorbed 87% to 99% of the overnight moves their tokenized counterparts had already made.

A second read on the same data put it above 85%, reflected within five minutes of the opening bell.

That means the 24/7 market is genuinely discovering price, not just guessing at it.

Tiny market, real fragility

Here's the catch: tokenized stocks ran about 1.5 times more volatile than the shares they track, and far less liquid — worst on decentralized exchanges, where prices stray furthest from the real thing.

The whole sector is worth roughly $2.3 billion, and Ondo Finance plus Backed Finance's xStocks control over 70% of it.

For scale, global equities were worth just under $160 trillion in 2025.

The IMF flagged automated margin calls, collateral jumping between platforms and round-the-clock trading as forces that could make a market shock harder to contain.

It wants regulators looking at circuit breakers for 24/7 venues.

Why this matters to you

Tokenized stocks are the live test of crypto's biggest pitch: putting real assets onchain. The IMF's verdict is that demand is real but the plumbing isn't ready yet.

If you trade these tokens, keep that $2.3 billion figure in mind. Thin liquidity means wider spreads and bigger wicks.

• $65B — total tokenized real-world asset market as of July 31
• $2.3B — the tokenized equities slice of it
• 1.5x — how much more volatile tokenized stocks were versus the underlying shares