According to Token Terminal data, as of October 18, approximately half of the market value of Coinbase-issued tokenised stocks has been deposited into DeFi applications on the Base network, reaching $262.4 million, an ~18x increase from $14.66 million at the start of 2026.

This batch of tokenised stocks covers fractional shares of major listed companies such as Apple and Nvidia, available to eligible non-U.S. users on the Base platform. These assets can not only be traded on decentralised exchanges but also used as loan collateral. The 30-day DEX trading volume of tokenised U.S. stocks on the Base chain has reached $1.5 billion, a 313% increase compared to the previous 30 days.

This data reveals a structural shift in the RWA sector: tokenised stocks are evolving from "hold-only assets" to "composable DeFi collateral." As traditional equity assets enter DeFi lending pools and trading protocols in tokenised form, the long-standing "compliance isolation" between RWA and DeFi is being gradually bridged by market forces.

Rhett Insight: The large-scale entry of tokenised stocks into DeFi validates that the core value of RWA lies not just in "going on-chain," but in "composability." For brand assets and operating-rights RWA, composability means that after issuance, the asset can enter broader on-chain financial scenarios—lending, trading, structured products—thereby truly unlocking liquidity premiums, rather than remaining in a static holding phase.