Tokenized stocks on Solana are SPL tokens tied to U.S.-listed shares and ETFs. Issuers include Backed (xStocks), Ondo and Backpack Securities, and the tokens trade around the clock on Solana DEXs. On Sept 17, 2026, the SEC gave on-chain venues a five-year, conditional path to trade tokenized U.S. stocks with permissioned users, but only for tokens that carry the same rights as the real share. Synthetic price trackers, and memecoins that merely trade against stock tokens, are not covered.

Key takeaways

  • "Stock token" covers very different things: tokens that carry a share's rights, tokens backed by shares an issuer holds, synthetic price trackers, and memecoins quoted in a stock token.
  • The SEC's Innovation Exemption (Sept 17, 2026) lets qualifying venues skip exchange registration, and certain liquidity providers skip dealer registration, until Sept 17, 2031. Synthetics are excluded and every participant must be permissioned.
  • As of late July 2026, 97% of all on-chain tokenized-equity spot volume to date had settled on Solana, per the Solana Foundation. In September 2026, Solana saw roughly $4.4 billion of tokenized-stock trading.
  • The exemption is an SEC order, not a law. The CLARITY Act market-structure bill failed a Senate cloture vote 49-50 on Sept 15, 2026.
  • Verify a stock token by its address from the issuer's official list, never by its ticker.

What a tokenized stock is, and what it isn't

A tokenized stock is a token whose value is tied to a listed share. How it is tied matters more than its name.

Tokens that are the share, or an entitlement to it. Forward Industries' own common stock has traded on Orca since late 2025, with Superstate as transfer agent maintaining an allowlist through Solana's token extensions. Backpack Securities tokens, per the Solana Foundation, are security entitlements backed by a corresponding share held through brokerage and custody infrastructure, with 1:1 conversion, and holders can move positions to traditional brokerages.

Tokens backed by shares an issuer holds. xStocks, issued by Backed and live on Solana since June 30, 2025, are backed 1:1 by shares held with a regulated custodian and offered to non-U.S. persons in allowed jurisdictions. Backed by a share is not the same as owning it. In its 2025 design, xStocks reinvested dividends into token balances rather than paying them out, and the Solana Foundation notes that backing, redemption and geographic conditions vary by product.

Synthetic price trackers. These follow a stock's price with no share behind them, such as a linked note, swap or perpetual contract.

Type What you actually hold Covered by the SEC exemption?
Issuer-tokenized share The company's own stock in token form Can qualify, if it is NMS stock and the venue meets the conditions
Third-party token with the same rights A token carrying the share's dividends, votes and liquidation claim Can qualify, after issuer notice and if the issuer does not object
Backed token with different rights A claim on an issuer that holds shares, on that issuer's terms No, unless it carries the share's full rights
Synthetic tracker Price exposure only No, excluded
Memecoin quoted in a stock token A memecoin; the stock token is only the trading pair No, it is not a stock

Why Solana became the main venue for on-chain equities

The shift came through a run of launches:

  • June 30, 2025: Backed launches xStocks on Solana.
  • Jan 21, 2026: Ondo Global Markets brings 200+ tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs to Solana. In June 2026 it adds 173 more, passing 430 assets across Solana and other chains.
  • June 12, 2026: SpaceX starts trading on Nasdaq, and Backpack Securities lists tokenized SpaceX shares (SPCX) on Solana through Sunrise the same day.
  • July 10, 2026: SK Hynix debuts on Nasdaq and reaches Solana the same day through Sunrise with Backpack Securities, alongside separate xStocks and Ondo products.
  • Aug 26 and Sept 23, 2026: Raydium reports crossing $4 billion, then $5 billion, in cumulative tokenized-stock volume.

The Solana Foundation's figures, dated to each source:

  • June 2026: daily tokenized-stock volume hit a record $683 million, and cumulative volume passed $10 billion.
  • Late July 2026: 97% of all on-chain tokenized-equity spot volume to date had settled on Solana.
  • August 2026: xStocks crossed $500 million in assets under management, and Solana's real-world asset value passed $4 billion, held across more than 350,000 addresses.
  • September 2026: roughly $4.4 billion of tokenized-stock trading volume, $684 million of tokenized-equity supply, and more than one million cumulative holder wallets.

The Foundation's September explainer uses a broader yardstick: Solana hosted "more than half of all tokenized equity volume in 2026." The 97% figure counts only on-chain spot volume, so the two numbers measure different things.

Stablecoins are the natural cash leg for these trades, and the SEC order allows payment-stablecoin pairs. Solana's stablecoin supply hit a record $17.51 billion in September 2026. Our guide to stablecoins on Solana and Base covers that side.

The SEC Innovation Exemption in plain English

On Sept 17, 2026, the SEC issued an order with two temporary, conditional exemptions for trading tokenized NMS stock, meaning U.S.-listed equities and exchange-traded products:

  • Venues. A "Tokenized Securities Venue" (TSV) that matches trades through AMM liquidity pools is exempt from the definition of an exchange.
  • Liquidity providers. Certain firms supplying those pools, which the order calls Covered Firms, are exempt from the definition of a dealer.

The main conditions, per the order and the Solana Foundation's summary:

  • Open code, permissioned access. Venue smart contracts must be auditable and deployed on a public, permissionless ledger, but every participant must be permissioned, at the pool or the token level. Venues must publish who can pause, upgrade or override their contracts, and the venue itself must be a U.S. person.
  • Only same-rights tokens. The company or a third party can tokenize the share, but the token must carry the listed share's dividends, votes and claim in liquidation. Synthetic tokens are out of scope and rights and warrants are excluded. Because only listed NMS stock qualifies, private-company shares are out too.
  • Issuers get a say. Before trading a third-party token, a venue must notify the issuer and wait at least 30 days. If the issuer objects, that venue cannot list it. Issuers that tokenize natively through a transfer agent face no waiting period.
  • Limited pairs. A tokenized stock can trade only against another tokenized NMS stock, a non-security crypto asset such as a payment stablecoin from a permitted issuer, or a tokenized money market fund.
  • Guardrails. Secondary trading only, with no primary issuance. Venues must publish a notice at least 30 days before operating, halt when the listing exchange halts, and cannot extend credit to participants. Volume is capped in two tiers, measured against the underlying stock's prior-month average daily share volume: Tier 1 (S&P 500 and Russell 1000 stocks plus certain ETPs) is limited to 75 symbols and 0.25%, and Tier 2 (other NMS stock) to 250 symbols and 2.5%.

The relief runs until Sept 17, 2031. The SEC also requested public comment, including on whether to make it permanent.

What the exemption does not do

  • It does not cover memecoins or synthetic stock tokens. As the Solana Foundation puts it, "A token that tracks a price is not a stock and does not qualify."
  • It does not settle U.S. crypto law. On Sept 15, 2026, the Senate voted 49-50 on cloture for the CLARITY Act market-structure bill, short of the 60 votes needed. A motion to reconsider keeps the bill procedurally alive, but broad market-structure law remains unresolved.
  • It does not make a product available to you. xStocks are offered to non-U.S. persons and Coinbase's tokenized stocks on Base to eligible jurisdictions outside the U.S. Eligibility still depends on the issuer and the venue.
  • It does not remove risk. Smart contract risk, issuer and custodian risk, and token prices that can drift from the underlying share while its home market is closed all remain.

Memecoins meet stocks: Pump.fun custom pairs

Pump.fun's docs define a "custom pair" as a coin quoted in an asset other than SOL or USDC. On Sept 9, 2026, the set of custom-pair quote assets grew to roughly 90, including xStocks, according to DefiLlama's Pump.fun tracking notes. Meteora went a similar way: in September, launches there could use more than 100 xStocks as quote assets, per the Solana Foundation.

Pairing a memecoin with a stock token does not make it a stock. You still buy a memecoin with all the usual risks, priced in an asset that also moves with the stock market. When you sell, you receive the stock token, and its issuer's terms on who may hold or redeem it still apply. Be wary of any launch that borrows a company's name or ticker.

How Solana compares with Base

Base took a different route. Coinbase issues tokenized U.S. stocks on Base using B20, a Base-native extension of ERC-20 that shipped in Base's Beryl upgrade (see our Base upgrades explainer). Base's docs added a tokenized-stocks integration guide in late August 2026, and by mid-September listed Coinbase tokens such as AAPLc, AMZNc and MSFTc.

  • Non-U.S. only. Base's docs say Coinbase tokenized stocks are only available to persons in eligible jurisdictions outside the U.S. KYC happens only when authorized participants mint or redeem; holding and secondary trading are permissionless.
  • A multiplier, not 1:1. One B20 token does not permanently equal one share. Corporate actions such as dividends and stock splits change an on-chain multiplier between token units and shares.
  • Address over ticker. Symbols carry a lowercase "c" suffix, but Base tells integrators to identify tokens by address, because name and symbol can be updated on-chain. Addresses are listed on Base's assets page.
  • Lending. Aave DAO's public address book lists an Aave V4 configuration on Base with an "EQUITIES" hub and a "MAG7" spoke.

Solana has several issuers and, by the Foundation's measures, most on-chain tokenized-equity trading so far. Base's tokenized-stock program has a single issuer and a token standard built around corporate actions. Our B20 vs ERC-20 explainer covers the standard in detail.

How to check you hold the real thing

  1. Get the address from the issuer. Use the official token list from xStocks, Ondo, Backpack Securities or Sunrise, or Base's assets page for Coinbase tokens, and compare the full address.
  2. Ignore look-alike tickers. One company can have tokens from several issuers: SpaceX trades on Solana as Backpack Securities' SPCX and as the xStocks token SPCXx. Anyone can also create a token called "SPCX" with a SpaceX-style logo. A matching name proves nothing.
  3. Read the eligibility terms. Check your jurisdiction against the issuer's list before you buy, not when you try to redeem.
  4. Know what kind of token it is. Company share, backed token or tracker? Can you redeem it, and do you get dividends or votes?
  5. On Base, check the multiplier before converting token amounts to shares.

FAQ

The Sept 17, 2026 order creates a temporary, conditional path for permissioned U.S. trading of tokenized NMS stock on qualifying venues. It does not cover synthetic trackers or memecoins, and many Solana and Base products are offered only outside the U.S., so check each issuer's and venue's terms.

Is a tokenized stock the same as owning the share?

Only sometimes. An issuer-tokenized share can be the stock itself. A backed token is a claim on an issuer that holds shares, with rights set by its terms. A synthetic tracker gives price exposure only.

Can I create a token for a stock?

Not a legitimate one. The exemption covers only tokens issued by the company, or third-party tokens that carry the share's full rights and clear the issuer-notice process, and only for secondary trading on qualifying venues. A token made with Solbase is a community token with no ownership in any company. On Solana it is an SPL token with mint authority revoked by default and never a freeze authority; on Base it is a fixed-supply ERC-20 with no owner and no mint function. Never use a stock's name or ticker or imply share rights. Solbase is non-custodial and does not provide liquidity, list, market or endorse tokens. If you want a community token, you can launch one on Solana or Base, and the FAQ explains what Solbase does and doesn't do.

Why is most of this volume on Solana?

Several major issuers, including xStocks, Ondo and Backpack Securities, list on Solana, and DEXs such as Raydium have handled billions of dollars of their trading. Trading also runs 24/7: 63% of Solana's tokenized-equity volume happened outside traditional market hours, per Allium data shared in September 2026.

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