Ship or Die at Accelerate 2025: Tokenization of Capital Markets (Nathan Allman - Ondo Finance)

In a groundbreaking announcement at Accelerate 2025, Nathan Allman of Ondo Finance revealed plans to tokenize all public securities on Solana, potentially revolutionizing global capital markets and ushering in a new era of accessibility in finance.

Summary

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Nathan Allman, representing Ondo Finance, delivered a compelling presentation on the future of tokenization at the Accelerate 2025 event. He introduced Ondo's innovative approach to real-world asset tokenization, focusing on improving accessibility to traditional financial assets through blockchain technology.

Allman highlighted Ondo's success with "yieldcoins," particularly USDY, a permissionless yield-bearing stablecoin that has gained significant traction on Solana. Building on this success, he announced Ondo's ambitious plans to tokenize all public securities, making them accessible on-chain in a quasi-permissionless manner.

The presentation emphasized the potential for combining the best aspects of decentralized finance (DeFi) with traditional finance (TradFi), creating what Ondo calls "Wall Street 2.0" or "internet capital markets." This fusion promises to offer 24/7 access, transparency, and composability while maintaining institutional-grade infrastructure and compliance standards.

Key Points:

Tokenization and Its Benefits

Tokenization, as explained by Allman, is the representation of ownership of real-world assets on a blockchain, typically a public one. The benefits of tokenization include 24/7 transferability, global accessibility, and programmability. These features have proven successful with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, and there's a growing desire to apply them to traditional financial assets.

Ondo's approach to tokenization focuses primarily on improving access to financial products and services. This access isn't limited to merely holding assets but extends to using them in DeFi protocols and creating financial products that can be accessed by anyone, anywhere, at any time.

Yieldcoins: Improving on Stablecoins

Ondo Finance introduced the concept of "yieldcoins" as an improvement over traditional stablecoins. While stablecoins have seen significant adoption (over $200 billion in circulation), they typically don't offer yield to holders. Ondo's yieldcoins, such as OUSG and USDY, aim to address this by paying holders the yield from the treasuries backing these coins.

OUSG, launched in early 2023, is a permissioned institutional fund holding short-term treasuries, transferable 24/7 but only between onboarded qualified purchasers. USDY, launched later in 2023, is a permissionless yieldcoin accessible to retail investors globally. Both products have seen positive market reactions and have been integrated with various DeFi protocols on Solana.

Tokenization of Public Securities

Allman announced Ondo's next major initiative: the tokenization of all public securities. This ambitious project aims to bring any asset available on traditional platforms like Robinhood or Interactive Brokers onto the blockchain. These tokenized securities will be quasi-permissionless, allowing for broader access in secondary markets outside certain jurisdictions.

Key features of this new offering include instant minting and redemption (24/5), leveraging existing TradFi liquidity, high leverage options, and seamless integration with leading DeFi protocols. This move represents a significant step towards bridging the gap between traditional finance and DeFi.

Wall Street 2.0 and Internet Capital Markets

The ultimate vision presented by Allman is the creation of "Wall Street 2.0" or "internet capital markets." This concept combines the advantages of DeFi (24/7 access, transparency, composability) with the strengths of traditional finance (institutional-grade infrastructure, compliance, high-quality assets).

This fusion aims to create a financial future that is more fair, efficient, and accessible to all. It represents a significant evolution in how financial markets operate, potentially democratizing access to a wide range of financial products and services.

Facts + Figures

• Ondo Finance is the largest issuer of real-world assets and tokenized securities on Solana, excluding stablecoins
• 99% of holders of real-world assets on Solana (excluding stablecoins) are holding Ondo products, primarily USDY
• There is approximately $250 million worth of Ondo's tokenized assets on Solana
• The stablecoin market has over $200 billion circulating on public blockchains
• Ondo launched OUSG, a permissioned institutional fund, in early 2023
• USDY, the first permissionless yieldcoin, was launched later in 2023
• Ondo plans to launch a platform for tokenizing all public securities in the coming months
• The new tokenized securities will be mintable and redeemable 24/5
• High leverage options will be available for these tokenized securities

Top quotes

"Tokenization, or real world asset tokenization, as we are focused on in Ondo, is the representation of ownership of some asset on a blockchain, ideally a public blockchain, where that asset is not natively on that chain."

"At Ondo, the benefit of tokenization that we're focused on is access. And we define access very broadly."

"We think 2025 will be the year of tokenization."

"We're trying to usher in what we call Wall Street 2.0. And, you know, I think the Solana community calls it internet capital markets."

"We are launching in the next few months, on global markets, which is our platform for bringing all public securities, so anything that you can invest in at Robinhood or in interactive brokers on chain."

Questions Answered

What is tokenization and why is it important?

Tokenization is the representation of ownership of real-world assets on a blockchain. It's important because it brings the benefits of blockchain technology - such as 24/7 transferability, global accessibility, and programmability - to traditional financial assets. This can potentially revolutionize how we interact with and trade these assets, making them more accessible and efficient.

What are yieldcoins and how do they differ from stablecoins?

Yieldcoins are an innovation by Ondo Finance that improve upon stablecoins by paying holders the yield from the treasuries that back them. Unlike traditional stablecoins which typically don't offer yield, yieldcoins like USDY provide returns to holders while maintaining stability. This makes them potentially more attractive for investors looking for both stability and yield in the crypto space.

What is Ondo Finance's plan for tokenizing public securities?

Ondo Finance plans to launch a platform that will tokenize all public securities, essentially bringing any asset available on traditional platforms like Robinhood onto the blockchain. These tokenized securities will be quasi-permissionless, allowing for broader access in secondary markets. They will feature instant minting and redemption (24/5), leverage existing TradFi liquidity, and offer high leverage options.

How does Ondo's vision of "Wall Street 2.0" or "internet capital markets" work?

Wall Street 2.0 or internet capital markets combine the best aspects of DeFi and traditional finance. This includes the 24/7 access, transparency, and composability of DeFi, along with the institutional-grade infrastructure, compliance standards, and high-quality assets of traditional finance. The goal is to create a financial system that is more fair, efficient, and accessible to everyone globally.

What impact could Ondo's tokenization efforts have on the Solana ecosystem?

Ondo's tokenization efforts could significantly expand the utility and adoption of the Solana blockchain. By bringing real-world assets and public securities onto Solana, it could attract more traditional investors and institutions to the ecosystem. This could lead to increased liquidity, more diverse financial products, and potentially position Solana as a leading blockchain for tokenized real-world assets.