Digital Finance & Tokenization▲
Coinbase Launches Tokenized Stocks on Base
Coinbase-issued tokenized stocks went live on Base on Monday, starting with fractional shares of Apple and Nvidia. Every eligible user outside the United States can now hold a claim on real equity in a self-custody wallet, trade it on Aerodrome, or post it as collateral on Aave, with AERO climbing more than 13% on the day. Each token corresponds to a share held by Alpaca, a regulated broker and custodian, and the holder has a direct claim on that share rather than exposure to a derivative tracking its price. Coinbase built it on a token standard called B20, which handles dividends and stock splits without changing token balances, so an open lending position or liquidity pool doesn't break when Apple pays out. This is the second time in a week a US company has shipped a product that Americans can't touch, following Coinbase's addition of perpetual futures to its Base App through Hyperliquid on Wednesday, excluding US, UK, and Canadian users, while Robinhood launched its own layer-2 chain last month with tokenized stocks among the first offerings, available in over 120 countries but not at home.