Ondo aims to reconstruct prime brokerage on the blockchain, starting with perpetual contracts.

Ondo demonstrates significant growth in tokenized assets and reveals intentions to transform that momentum into a comprehensive on-chain financial services ecosystem at its summit.

Latest developments: In a discussion with CoinDesk during the Ondo Summit, Ondo President Ian de Bode stated that 2025 is expected to be a pivotal year for its core operations.

• The company has emerged as a prominent issuer of tokenized U.S. Treasuries, boasting over $2 billion in total value locked, as reported by president Ian De Bode.
• Its Global Markets platform, which focuses on tokenized stocks and ETFs, has achieved approximately $600 million in total value locked, giving Ondo around 60% market share in that sector, according to De Bode.
• Ondo also emphasized collaborations with established financial institutions such as Mastercard and JPMorgan.

The context: The field of tokenization remains in its infancy, with revenue generation not being the primary emphasis at this stage.

• De Bode characterized the current stage as a “land grab,” where banks, asset managers, and custodians are competing to bring assets onto the blockchain.
• He indicated that the focus is on developing scalable infrastructure — termed “the pipes” — prior to full monetization.
• He added that even at its present scale, Ondo’s tokenized offerings are relatively small compared to traditional financial markets.

Why it matters: Ondo is aiming to expand its role beyond merely issuing assets to providing comprehensive services.

• The firm introduced Ondo Perps, a new platform designed for perpetual futures related to equities and commodities.
• In contrast to existing platforms that depend solely on stablecoins, Ondo Perps will permit the use of tokenized stocks and ETFs as collateral, according to De Bode.
• This approach is intended to attract market makers, enhance liquidity, and facilitate more advanced trading strategies.

Driving demand: Retail adoption outside the U.S. is already becoming apparent.

• De Bode noted that Ondo’s tokenized stocks platform has experienced net inflows on all but three days since its launch in September.
• Distribution via crypto wallets and exchanges — including Binance Wallet and a recently announced integration with MetaMask — is boosting adoption, particularly in Asia.
• He contended that tokenized stocks address genuine access issues worldwide, akin to how stablecoins broadened access to U.S. dollars.

What comes next: Ondo’s long-term objective is to establish an on-chain prime brokerage.

• De Bode mentioned that perpetuals are merely the initial phase in replicating traditional prime brokerage services on-chain.
• The overarching concept is convergence: investors will seek a unified app to trade crypto, stocks, ETFs, and derivatives continuously.
• Ondo intends to collaborate with centralized exchanges and wallets to integrate tokenized traditional assets into crypto trading processes.