ONDO jumped roughly 16% following reports that the US Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing a framework that could allow tokenized versions of stocks to trade on crypto rails, potentially giving one of the most visible names in the real-world asset sector a new regulatory tailwind. ONDO was trading near $0.390, up 15.5% over 24 hours, with about $228 million in daily volume and a market cap of close to $1.9 billion.
The move followed Bloomberg reportthat the SEC could announce an “innovation exemption” for tokenized stocks as early as this week. The framework would reportedly create a path for trading digital versions of securities outside of traditional exchanges and on decentralized crypto platforms, including tokens that may not have the consent or backing of the public companies whose shares they track.
Why does ONDO profit the most from the news?
For crypto markets, the report directly touched on one of the strongest narratives of the year: tokenized public stocks. The letter to Kobeissi described the potential exemption via X as a “surprise move”, saying it could “reshape the landscape of the US stock market” and represent “one of the biggest US moves in crypto infrastructure to date”.
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The market reaction was focused on projects already positioned around chain securities. ONDO led the gains among the major RWA-linked tokens, while traders also pointed to Hyperliquid as a potential beneficiary due to its role in on-chain derivatives. One account, The DeFi Investor, described the report as “great news” for both HYPE and ONDO, claiming it “legitimises Ondo as the largest tokenized equity issuer,” while Hyperliquid will be “one of the biggest beneficiaries as the largest DEX for RWA perpetrators.”
Ondo’s data points gave traders a concrete reason to link the SEC report to the token. Ondo Global Markets recently surpassed $1 billion in total value locked less than eight months after launching in September 2025. The platform holds more than 70% of the tokenized equity issuer market and has handled more than $18 billion in cumulative trading volume. It currently offers more than 260 tokenized US stocks and ETFs in Solana, Ethereum and the BNB chain.
Related reading: Crypto funds extend six-week streak with $858M inflows on CLARITY Act progress
Katie Wheeler, director of global partnerships at Ondo Finance, said in a recent interview that the platform’s growth could accelerate further. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we go over $5 billion by the end of the year. I know that seems a little favorable, but we have a lot of interest and we’re really building quite a deal.”
Wheeler’s broader argument is that tokenized stocks remain early relative to the size of public markets. “We’re literally just scratching the surface. This is a very big industry. Even if we hit 1%, I think that would be amazing,” she said.
Tokenized stocks are just getting started.
After Ondo tokenized shares surpassing USD 1 billion in TVL, Ondo’s @KatieAWheeler gave @Street her forecast for the end of the year:
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we exceed $5 billion by the end of the year. We have a lot of interest and are building quite a… pic.twitter.com/sFIoiXqi8G
— Ondo Finance (@OndoFinance) May 18, 2026
Still, the SEC’s reported approach raises a fundamental regulatory question: Can equity-linked tokens scale up without undermining shareholder protections. Bloomberg reported that the tokens may not provide traditional rights such as voting rights or dividends, while the source material indicated that the platforms could lose eligibility if the listed products did not provide rights such as voting or dividends.
At press time, ONDO was trading at $0.3871.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
