CoinDesk
Ondo Finance rolled out the first production deployment of the SEC's third-party tokenization model on Thursday, putting tokenized versions of BlackRock's IVV ETF and Micron shares on Ethereum under existing U.S. custody and transfer-agent rules rather than an offshore wrapper. Transfer agent Oasis Pro TA, which Ondo acquired last year, handles issuance, while Broadridge supplies proxy voting, regulatory disclosures and shareholder communications. Token holders get the same governance rights as traditional brokerage investors.
The structure keeps the underlying IVV and Micron shares inside the existing U.S. custody chain. Regulated custodians continue to hold the real securities, while existing broker-dealer, transfer-agent and custody controls enforce transfer restrictions. One-for-one token entitlements are minted on Ethereum as a wrapper, not a replacement, for the regulated share itself.
Why it matters
The launch follows the SEC's January staff statement on tokenized securities, which outlined how a third-party custodial approach could comply with existing securities law. Staff statements lack the force of commissioner-approved guidance, but they signal how the agency reads the market. Under the model, a regulated intermediary holds the conventional shares and issues blockchain tokens representing the holder's entitlement to them, an alternative to issuer-sponsored tokenization, where the underlying issuer is involved in the chain.
That debate sharpened last year when OpenAI said it had not authorized Robinhood's tokenized offering tied to its shares. Ondo's design sidesteps that question: the issuer never touches the tokenization layer, and registered intermediaries control the whole stack end to end. CEO Ian De Bode called the rollout a demonstration that blockchain-based securities can sit inside the current U.S. regulatory and custody framework.
Market impact
Tokenization has been one of the fastest-growing seams between digital assets and traditional finance. Citi projects tokenized securities could reach a $5.5 trillion market size by 2030.
Frequently asked questions
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What did Ondo actually launch?
Ondo rolled out the first production deployment of the SEC's third-party tokenization model, putting tokenized versions of BlackRock's IVV ETF and Micron shares on Ethereum under existing U.S. custody and transfer-agent rules.
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Who handles the regulated plumbing?
Oasis Pro TA, an SEC-registered transfer agent Ondo acquired last year, handles issuance, while Broadridge supplies proxy voting, regulatory disclosures and shareholder communications to token holders.
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How does the SEC's third-party custodial model work?
Under the model outlined in the SEC's January staff statement, a regulated intermediary holds the conventional shares in custody and issues blockchain tokens representing the holder's entitlement to those assets, keeping the underlying securities inside existing U.S. controls.
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Can U.S. investors buy these tokens today?
No. Ondo said the product is not yet available to U.S. investors, though the company framed the launch as the foundation for expanding onchain access domestically.
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How big is Ondo's tokenization footprint already?
Ondo says it already operates more than $1 billion in tokenized stocks and ETFs across over 430 securities outside the U.S., making it one of the largest tokenized securities platforms in the market.
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