Crypto.com rolls out tokenized stock derivatives as crypto exchanges push into equities

Crypto.com is pushing deeper into stocks, rolling out tokenized derivatives tracking 1,500 U.S. equities and exchange-traded funds as crypto exchanges increasingly expand into traditional markets.

The exchange said Wednesday that eligible users in the European Economic Area and other approved markets can gain exposure to stocks including Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA) and Tesla (TSLA) as well as ETFs such as SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) and iShares Silver Trust (SLV). Positions start at $1 and can trade around the clock.

The products are derivatives issued by Foris Capital CY Limited that reference the price of the underlying stocks or ETFs. In other words, they provide synthetic exposure: if Apple shares rise, the corresponding product is designed to follow that move, but its holder doesn’t become an Apple shareholder.

That means investors don’t gain legal or beneficial ownership of the underlying securities and don’t receive voting or other shareholder rights. They may receive dividend-equivalent adjustments, according to Crypto.com. The underlying assets supporting the products are held with U.S. broker-dealer Alpaca.

The offering builds on Crypto.com’s May 2025 acquisition of Foris Capital, which secured the exchange a Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) license for offering regulated financial products in Europe.

Crypto.com is world’s 11th largest exchange, according to data source Coingecko.

The launch lands in a fast-growing corner at the intersection of the crypto market and traditional assets. Tokenized stocks have reached about $2.49 billion in value, up roughly 600% over the past year, according to RWA.xyz data, as exchanges and blockchain firms race to bring equities onchain. Citi estimated that tokenized securities could grow into a $5.5 trillion market by 2030, including $2.6 trillion in tokenized equities.

Kraken, Bybit, Bitget and Robinhood are among the trading platforms that have rolled out tokenized equity products for investors outside the U.S. Meanwhile, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the backbone of the U.S. securities markets, has begun testing tokenized securities infrastructure. At the same time, Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange also unveiled tokenization initiatives.

BBut not all of those products work the same way. Synthetic or derivative products track a stock’s performance without making the buyer a shareholder. Issuer-sponsored models, by contrast, can put actual common shares onchain while preserving ownership and shareholder rights.

The debate is drawing increasing attention from regulators and market infrastructure providers as tokenized securities move closer to the financial mainstream.

Read more: Wall Street transfer agents lobby SEC, warning that third-party tokens pose risks to market integrity