Ondo wants to rebuild prime brokerage on-chain — and perps are the first step

Latest developments: In an interview with CoinDesk Live from the Ondo Summit, Ondo President Ian de Bode says 2025 marked a breakout year for its core businesses.

• The firm is now a leading issuer in tokenized U.S. Treasuries, with more than $2 billion in total value locked, according to president Ian De Bode.
• Its Global Markets platform for tokenized stocks and ETFs has reached roughly $600 million in TVL, giving Ondo about 60% market share in that niche, De Bode said.
• Ondo also highlighted partnerships with traditional finance heavyweights including Mastercard and JPMorgan.

The context: Tokenization is still early, and revenue is not yet the primary focus.

• De Bode described the current phase as a “land grab,” with banks, asset managers and custodians racing to get assets on-chain.
• He said the priority is building scalable infrastructure — “the pipes” — before monetization fully kicks in.
• Even at current scale, Ondo’s tokenized products remain tiny relative to traditional finance markets, he added.

Why it matters: Ondo is positioning itself beyond asset issuance and toward services.

• The company announced Ondo Perps, a new platform for perpetual futures on equities and commodities.
• Unlike existing venues that rely solely on stablecoins, Ondo Perps will allow tokenized stocks and ETFs to be posted as collateral, De Bode said.
• That design is meant to attract market makers, deepen liquidity and enable more sophisticated trading strategies.

Driving demand: Retail adoption outside the U.S. is already showing up.

• De Bode said Ondo’s tokenized stocks platform has seen net inflows on all but three days since launching in September.
• Distribution through crypto wallets and exchanges — including Binance Wallet and a newly announced MetaMask integration — is accelerating uptake, particularly in Asia.
• He argued tokenized stocks solve real access problems globally, similar to how stablecoins expanded access to U.S. dollars.

What comes next: Ondo’s long-term ambition is on-chain prime brokerage.

• Perpetuals are just the first step toward recreating traditional prime brokerage services on-chain, De Bode said.
• The broader thesis is convergence: investors will want a single app to trade crypto, stocks, ETFs and derivatives around the clock.
• Ondo plans to partner with centralized exchanges and wallets to make tokenized traditional assets native to crypto trading workflows.