Binance founder Changpeng Zhao says IPOs will eventually move onto blockchains, but investors are already showing why the idea could gain traction. What has changed is the market surrounding
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao says IPOs will eventually move onto blockchains, but investors are already showing why the idea could gain traction.
What has changed is the market surrounding that prediction.
Tokenized stocks now represent roughly $2.9 billion of on-chain value, up about 14% over the past month. Separate data recently put weekly tokenized-equity trading near $3 billion.
Meanwhile, demand for companies that have not even gone public is exploding.
Coinpaper recently tracked pre-IPO trading reaching about $12 billion in June, driven partly by interest in private companies such as SpaceX and OpenAI.
That is the real backdrop to CZ’s prediction.
Investors Want Access Before the Opening BellTraditional IPOs frequently leave ordinary investors waiting until shares begin public trading.
Early allocations typically flow through underwriters and institutional relationships.
Blockchain-based issuance could change that distribution model by allowing shares to be divided into small units, distributed digitally and potentially traded around the clock.
Binance Research estimated that 2026 could produce more than $225 billion in U.S. IPO proceeds. Its own pre-IPO perpetual products reached $2.5 billion in cumulative volume within their first 18 days, with 88% of users coming from emerging markets.
That suggests the appetite is not merely for tokenized versions of Apple or Nvidia.
Investors want earlier access to companies themselves.
The trend already extends beyond derivatives.
France's ST Group completed what is described as Europe's first fully on-chain IPO in April through the regulated Lise exchange.
The platform combines issuance, trading, settlement and shareholder records on blockchain infrastructure.
Wall Street Is Already Moving in the Same DirectionPerhaps the strongest validation of CZ's argument is coming from traditional exchanges.
The New York Stock Exchange filed rule changes in April allowing securities to trade in tokenized form, while Nasdaq received SEC approval in March for its own tokenized-securities framework.
That shift followed since the NYSE outlined its broader on-chain trading plans.
Tokenized equities have since expanded across Robinhood, BNB Chain and Solana, with weekly trading reaching nearly $3 billion.
But there is an important distinction.
Some stock tokens merely track the economics of an underlying share. They do not necessarily give investors voting rights or direct legal ownership.
Coinpaper's tokenized stocks explainer examines those different structures.
The SEC has made the same point.
A share remains a security when moved onto a blockchain, and registration, disclosure and investor-protection rules still apply. The regulator also warns that the rights attached to different tokenized products can vary materially.
That may ultimately determine whether CZ's vision becomes mainstream.
