Crypto Exchanges Expand into Tokenized Traditional Assets Amid Intense Competition

Intense competition from traditional brokerage and decentralized exchanges is pushing crypto exchanges to expand beyond digital assets into tokenized stocks, commodities and precious metals, CoinGecko said. A study, released by the crypto data provider on Wednesday, found that the market capitalization of tokenized traditional assets, including precious metals, US stocks, commodities, global indexes and forex, grew to $6.6 billion in June 2026 from $1.4 billion in January 2025. The analysis covers activity across Binance, OKX, Bybit, Bitget, Gate and MEXC. The market’s initial growth was fueled largely by tokenized precious metals before expanding into US equities. By mid-2026, US stock perpetual futures had overtaken precious metals in both trading volume and open interest, driven by investor interest in semiconductor stocks and anticipated initial public offerings, the report said. Tokenized traditional assets on crypto exchanges grew nearly fivefold over 18 months, with precious metals driving early gains. Source: CoinGecko Perpetual futures account for the vast majority of trading activity, while spot markets remain comparatively small. According to the report, derivatives dominate because traders prefer leveraged products and exchanges can list perpetual contracts without issuing or custodying the underlying tokenized assets. The expansion comes as centralized exchanges look beyond crypto trading to attract and retain users. CoinGecko said competition is intensifying from both decentralized exchanges, which have chipped away at market share, and traditional brokerages that are expanding their digital asset offerings. Robinhood is among the brokerages that have significantly expanded their digital asset offerings, underscoring the growing overlap between traditional finance and digital asset platforms. Related: Bernstein raises Robinhood price target, cites tokenization and prediction markets Institutional demand fuels tokenization push Institutional interest in tokenized assets continues to build. A June report by Standard Chartered projected that tokenization could help expand decentralized finance into a $2.7 trillion market by 2030 through the adoption of real-world assets. Separately, Bernstein analysts estimated the broader tokenization market could reach $4 trillion by the end of the decade as financial institutions increasingly embrace blockchain-based assets. Like the convergence between crypto exchanges and traditional brokerages highlighted by CoinGecko, institutional adoption of tokenization underscores how fast the lines between traditional finance and blockchain infrastructure are blurring. As Cointelegraph recently reported, BitGo and OTC Markets Group have partnered to expand access to tokenized securities for more than 150 broker-dealers. Separately, Tradable teamed with the Stellar network to bring up to $1 billion in private credit assets onchain, illustrating how banks, brokerages and crypto firms are increasingly building on the same blockchain infrastructure.