How to Buy Tokenized Stocks: GM Markets' EVM Focus and the Broader Tokenization Landscape
Learn how to buy tokenized US stocks and ETFs on GM Markets' EVM-focused platform. Understand our 1:1 backing, security, and fee structure, and explore the broader tokenization landscape, including Solana's RWA ecosystem.
How to Buy Tokenized Stocks: GM Markets' EVM Focus and the Broader Tokenization Landscape
Tokenized stocks offer a new paradigm for accessing global equity markets, combining the value of traditional shares with the innovation of blockchain technology. At GM Markets, we provide a secure and permissionless platform for trading 1:1 backed tokenized US stocks and ETFs, primarily settled on EVM-compatible chains. This guide outlines the step-by-step process for acquiring these assets on our platform, while also clarifying the broader ecosystem of tokenized assets and GM Markets' strategic focus within the evolving landscape of digital finance.
While the tokenized asset space is dynamic, with various blockchains playing different roles, our focus remains on delivering a robust, transparent, and user-friendly experience on our supported networks. We will also address the role of other significant ecosystems, such as Solana, within the tokenized asset landscape and explain our strategic choices.
Understanding Tokenized Stocks and Their Core Benefits
Tokenized stocks are digital representations of traditional shares, fully backed 1:1 by real-world securities held in regulated custody. These tokens are settled on-chain, bringing the efficiency and transparency of blockchain to equity trading. On GM Markets, each token is a direct reflection of an underlying share, providing economic exposure to price movements and corporate actions.
The core benefits of tokenized stocks are compelling:
- Fractional Ownership: We enable trading from as little as $1, allowing access to high-value stocks in smaller increments.
- Enhanced Access: While underlying markets have set hours, the tokenized nature allows for potential 24/7 liquidity and trading within the crypto ecosystem, subject to market maker availability.
- Composability within DeFi: Our ERC-20 tokens are standard on-chain assets, enabling them to be lent, borrowed against, supplied as liquidity, or used as collateral across various decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols such as Aave, Morpho, Uniswap, Curve, and CoW Swap.
- Self-Custody: You maintain control of your assets in your embedded wallet, facilitated by multi-party computation (MPC) technology.
It is important to understand the nature of ownership with tokenized stocks. While they track the economic value of the underlying asset, including price movements and dividends (which are reinvested to raise the token's on-chain Net Asset Value), they confer economic exposure rather than traditional shareholder voting rights. This distinction is crucial for investors accustomed to direct share ownership.
GM Markets' Approach to Tokenized Stock Trading
GM Markets provides a platform for trading tokenized US-listed stocks and ETFs. Our commitment is to transparency, security, and accessibility. We ensure every token issued on our platform is backed 1:1 by a real share held in a segregated customer account at a regulated broker-dealer, specifically Interactive Brokers or Alpaca Markets. These shares are held separately from the broker's own funds, under applicable investor-protection arrangements for client accounts.
Our tokenized stock offerings currently settle on several EVM-compatible chains: Base, Arbitrum, Ethereum, and Optimism. It is important to note that Solana is not currently a supported chain for GM Markets' tokenized stock offerings. We strategically focus on these EVM-compatible networks due to their established infrastructure, deep liquidity, and broad developer familiarity, which align with our commitment to robust and secure on-chain settlement.
To ensure full transparency regarding our reserves, we utilize Accountable, a third-party proof-of-reserves provider. Accountable independently attests our broker balances in real time, publishing this data on-chain. This mechanism allows anyone to verify that our token supply is fully backed by the underlying shares. As of June 15, 2024, our Proof of Reserves page shows our platform supports 8 tradable assets, with a total underlying custody value of $107.73K and a backing ratio of 106.30%, confirming our commitment to full 1:1 backing. The total outstanding value of tokenized assets on the platform is $101.34K.
Step-by-Step: Buying Tokenized Stocks on GM Markets
Acquiring tokenized stocks on GM Markets is designed to be straightforward and permissionless. Here is a guide to help you through the process:
Utilize or Withdraw Your Tokens
Once your trade is complete, your tokenized stocks are held in your self-custodial wallet. You can choose to hold them, trade them again, or explore their composability within the broader DeFi ecosystem. If you wish to withdraw your tokens, the process is free and your assets can be moved to another compatible wallet or utilized in other DeFi protocols.
Place Your Trade
When you are ready to trade, our Request-For-Quote (RFQ) execution model ensures competitive pricing. Regulated market makers quote against the live underlying market, and trades settle back-to-back upon your acceptance. We offer a default slippage tolerance of 0.5%, which you can configure per trade. The 'You will receive' line in your order summary is the final price, inclusive of our trading fee, which ranges from 10 to 20 basis points (0.10% to 0.20%) depending on your VIP tier. Gas fees are abstracted and billed in USDF, so you never need to hold native chain tokens.
Select Your Desired Asset
Browse our list of available tokenized US-listed stocks and ETFs. You can choose from popular tickers such as AAPL, NVDA, or diversified ETFs like SPY, among others. Our platform provides real-time pricing sourced from regulated market-making partners.
Deposit Funds
Fund your account using stablecoins or various fiat rails, including Apple Pay, card, or bank transfers. All deposits are free. Your deposited funds are converted into USDF, our unified stablecoin balance, which is backed 1:1 by USDC and USDT across supported chains. This abstraction simplifies the deposit process, removing the need to manage multiple native chain tokens.
Connect Your Account
To begin, connect your account through an external wallet, Google, or an email magic-link. Our embedded wallets are powered by Privy, utilizing multi-party computation (MPC) for enhanced security. This means no single party, including GM Markets, holds your full private key, improving the security of your self-custodial assets. Authentication is secured via biometric methods or passkeys, with a second factor required for trades and withdrawals exceeding $10,000.
Tokenized Stocks and the Solana Ecosystem
Solana has rapidly emerged as a significant hub for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), including tokenized stocks. It accounts for approximately 97% market share in on-chain tokenized equity trading. In Q2 2026, Solana-based tokenized stocks recorded $4.84 billion in trading volume, representing over 96% of the overall tokenized stock market. As of July 6, 2026, tokenized RWA transfer volume on Solana reached $8.68 billion, a 105.76% increase over the preceding 30 days. The total value of assets distributed on the network climbed to $3.48 billion. On June 15, 2026, the 24-hour spot volume for tokenized stocks on Solana surpassed $100 million for the first time, with $SPCX (SpaceX shares) contributing over 40% of this activity. The network's Total Value Locked (TVL) in DeFi protocols grew 30.4% quarter-over-quarter in Q2 2025 to $8.6 billion, positioning it as the second-largest network by TVL after surpassing Tron in November 2024. As of June 15, 2024, Solana's TVL stood at $6.28 billion, placing it third among top blockchains. Daily active addresses averaged 1.93 million per day in early July 2026, with non-vote transactions exceeding one billion. The network boasts a theoretical peak capacity of 65,000 transactions per second and an average transaction cost of $0.00025 per transaction, making it an efficient network for frequent trading.
Several prominent projects offer directly backed tokenized stocks on Solana:
- xStocks (Backed Finance): Backed Finance launched xStocks on Solana on June 30, 2025, with an initial offering of over 55 stocks and ETFs. By January 19, 2026, total on-chain transaction volume for xStocks had crossed $3 billion, with DEX volume exceeding $517 million. As of March 2026, xStocks had exceeded $20 billion in cumulative trading volume (across CEX and DEX) since its June 2025 launch. The total value of xStocks was near $196 million as of January 19, 2026, with over $182 million on Solana. xStocks held approximately 93% market share on Solana as of January 19, 2026, and as of February 17, 2026, represented 7 of the top 10 tokenized stocks by 24-hour trading volume and comprised the top 8 tokenized stocks by unique holders.
- Ondo Global Markets: Ondo Global Markets became available on Solana on January 21, 2026, following an initial launch of Ondo Stocks in September 2025. Ondo offers over 200 tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs on Solana. By May 11, 2026, Ondo Global Markets surpassed $1 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL) across Solana, Ethereum, and BNB Chain, achieving this milestone in under eight months. As of January 23, 2026, Ondo Finance's tokenized stocks had surpassed $500 million in total value across multiple chains, with cumulative trading volume exceeding $18 billion across its supported chains by May 13, 2026. Ondo Global Markets held over 70% market share among tokenized equity issuers as of May 11, 2026.
- Backpack Securities (SPCX): Backpack, founded in 2022, operates Backpack Exchange under a Dubai VARA license. Backpack accounted for over 70% of tokenized stocks trading volume on Solana as of June 27, 2026. Its tokenized SpaceX product (SPCX) became one of the most-traded tokenized stock products on Solana after SpaceX's public listing. Backpack's total assets are $427.19 million, with $319.45 million on Solana.
- Dinari (dShares): While Dinari's Dinari Financial Network launched on August 14, 2025, with over 200 tokenized stocks and ETFs on EVM chains, its primary deployments are on Arbitrum One (62.2% of market cap) and Ethereum (35.4% of market cap), with smaller presences on Base, Blast, and HyperEVM. As of recent data, Dinari's total asset market cap is $40.2 million, with tokenized stocks accounting for $18.4 million of this.
Despite Solana's compelling technical advantages and significant market share for tokenized RWAs, GM Markets has strategically focused on EVM-compatible chains for settlement. Our decision is rooted in the established infrastructure, deep liquidity, and extensive developer familiarity within the EVM ecosystem. This allows us to leverage well-established smart contract platforms and a mature institutional infrastructure, which aligns with our priority of security and reliability for tokenized US stocks and ETFs. Currently, GM Markets does not offer direct, 1:1 backed tokenized US stocks for trading on Solana. Our approach prioritizes a consistent and secure experience across EVM networks where we can ensure robust backing mechanisms and integrate seamlessly with existing DeFi liquidity pools.
The Advantages of Trading Tokenized Stocks with GM Markets
Choosing GM Markets for your tokenized stock trading offers distinct advantages:
- Permissionless, Global Access: We provide access to US-listed stocks and ETFs as tokens for users globally. Please note, we do not serve users in the United States or other restricted jurisdictions.
- Self-Custody and Robust Security: Our Privy MPC embedded wallets ensure you maintain control of your assets. Smart contracts undergo regular audits by firms such as Sherlock, Halborn, Cantina, and Cyfrin, with SOC 2 Type II certification in progress, underscoring our commitment to security.
- Transparent Pricing: Our single trading fee ranges from 10 to 20 basis points (0.10% to 0.20%), with no hidden costs. Deposits and withdrawals are free, and we charge no custody, inactivity, dividend, or FX markup fees. Gas is abstracted, so you only pay in USDF. For comparison, other platforms offering tokenized stocks may have fees ranging from 0.2% to 1%, or include spreads in their quoted prices, making our pricing model transparent and competitive.
Frequently Asked Questions
What am I actually buying when I buy AAPL on GM Markets?
You are buying a tokenized representation of one AAPL share, fully backed 1:1 by an actual AAPL share held in custody on your behalf by a regulated broker-dealer. The token tracks the economic value of the underlying (price, dividends, corporate actions) through its on-chain NAV. It lives in your embedded wallet, so you retain custody and can move, trade, lend, borrow, or supply it as liquidity across DeFi.
What happens to my tokens if GM Markets discontinues operations?
A designated security agent works directly with the custodian to redeem outstanding tokens against the underlying shares. The redemption path is enforced by the on-chain contract and is independent of GM Markets' continued operation. Value is held in segregated customer accounts at the custodian, not on GM Markets' balance sheet.
How are the underlying shares held and protected?
In segregated customer accounts at regulated US broker-dealers, held separately from the brokers' own funds, under applicable investor-protection arrangements for segregated client accounts. The shares remain available to token holders independently of GM Markets' or any single broker's commercial status.
What are the total fees on a trade?
The trading fee ranges from 10 to 20 basis points (0.10% to 0.20%). Default is 20 bps, dropping toward 10 bps as your 14-day trading volume grows through the VIP ladder. The fee is included in the quoted price, so the 'You will receive' line is the final amount. Gas is abstracted (billed in USDF from your balance; no native token needed). Deposits and withdrawals are free across every rail (Apple Pay, card, bank, stablecoin).
Do I receive dividends?
Yes. A dividend is used to buy more of the underlying shares, and the token's on-chain NAV rises accordingly. You see the dividend value in the token's price rather than as a separate cash distribution. Other corporate actions (splits, special distributions, spin-offs, mergers, name changes) are absorbed into NAV so your position tracks the underlying exactly.
Where can I use these tokens?
Across DeFi: lending and borrowing on Aave and Morpho, margin/leverage on perps protocols, and liquidity on Uniswap, Curve, and CoW Swap. Composability is the central advantage over a traditional brokerage account: your exposure becomes productive capital that can earn additional yield while you hold it.
Trading Tokenized Stocks on GM Markets
Tokenized stocks offer a direct path to engaging with traditional equity markets through the efficiency and transparency of blockchain technology. This guide has outlined the straightforward process of acquiring these assets on GM Markets, from connecting your account and depositing funds to placing trades and utilizing your tokens within the DeFi ecosystem. We have also clarified GM Markets' strategic focus on EVM-compatible chains, providing a secure and reliable environment for tokenized US stocks and ETFs, even as other ecosystems like Solana demonstrate significant growth in the broader RWA market.
To take the next step, we encourage you to explore our platform, conduct thorough due diligence on specific tokenized stock offerings, and understand their backing models and redemption paths. Always verify the regulatory compliance of any platform and be aware of jurisdictional restrictions, as many platforms, including GM Markets, do not serve users in the United States or other restricted jurisdictions.
Trading tokenized stocks involves risks, including market volatility, settlement risk, counterparty risk, smart-contract risk, and custody risk. The value of tokenized assets can fluctuate, and you may lose money. We do not provide financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. Please consult with a qualified professional before making any investment decisions. Further details on risks and legal considerations are available on our legal page.
