Real-world assets (RWAs) - from bonds and real estate to private credit and equities - are moving onchain, and fast. Already, more than $31 billion in RWAs have been tokenized on public chains, more than doubling in the past year.

Among these, equities stand out as the next frontier: a $130 trillion market waiting to be unlocked through tokenization.

Bringing equities onchain provides a chance to fundamentally reshape how capital markets work: making shares programmable, composable with DeFi, and available 24/7 across borders. It’s a vision where equities can move as seamlessly as stablecoins do today.

But tokenization alone isn’t enough. For onchain equities to compete with traditional markets while benefitting from the open nature of crypto, they will require built-in compliance and institutional-grade trading infrastructure.

In this article, we’ll explore the emergence of new, compliant models for tokenizing public equity and how 0x RFQ will serve as a cornerstone of this global and always-on market for onchain equities.

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A $130T opportunity

Global equities dwarf crypto markets today, with over $130 trillion in market capitalization compared to ~$4 trillion for digital assets. Onchain equities will merge the permissionless and programmable nature of crypto with the scale of traditional markets.

• Global Access: 24/7 trading without borders, intermediaries, or fragmented settlement layers.
• Composability: Tokenized stocks can serve as collateral, flow into automated strategies, or be traded peer to peer.
• Instant settlement: Trade settlement occurs onchain with near-zero latency and dividends can be made instant.
• Open and transparent: Tokenized equities offer more transparent and open access, especially for non-US traders facing limited access.

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With the regulatory environment finally shifting, Institutional players are already signaling their belief in this future. BlackRock, Visa, and PayPal have all made moves in the tokenization space.

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Compliance-first, future-ready tokenization

A new kind of onchain equity is emerging - publicly registered tokenized equities with compliance baked-in.

Platforms like Superstate work with companies to tokenize their publicly-traded shares directly onchain - benefiting from round-the-clock, global access. These aren’t derivatives or synthetic tokens, they are actual stock with all of the rights and benefits of traditional shares. Once tokenized, share transfers are reflected instantly on the company’s cap table.

How do these compliant public equity token models work?

• Compliance rules are embedded in the tokens themselves.
• Only verified wallets can participate in peer-to-peer transfers and trades. Programmable allowlists enforce who can hold and transfer tokens.
• Permissioned DeFi pools can potentially allow tokenized equities to integrate into broader markets while maintaining KYC/AML standards.

Compliance-first models ensure that tokenized equities will be interoperable with DeFi while meeting KYC/AML requirements, reducing operational risk for institutional participants.

Utilizing emerging standards for permissioned tokens, this framework ensures that onchain equities aren’t shadow assets or synthetic representations. They are real shares traded onchain - creating a secure environment for both retail and institutional participants, while enabling global access and programmability.

But to deliver on the promise of tokenized public equity, shares will need to be tradable. And the market needs infrastructure that can match the reliability, efficiency, and compliance of traditional trading venues.

That’s where 0x’s Request-for-Quote (RFQ) system comes in.

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Institutional-grade trading infrastructure

Traditional equity markets work because they offer:

• Deep liquidity from professional market makers
• Reliable execution at scale
• Clear compliance frameworks

Tokenized equities need the same foundation to thrive. 

Institutions and retail investors alike expect the same seamless execution they get from centralized exchanges or brokers today. Tokenized equities demand institutional-grade trading infrastructure from day one. This is why tokenized equities require a novel approach: combining peer-to-peer transactions and professional-grade execution with full support for these new compliant tokenization models. RFQ bridges that gap.

0x pioneered the first purpose-built RFQ system for crypto trading in 2019. RFQ connects users directly with professional market makers who compete to offer the best prices.

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RFQ is critical for onchain equity trading:

• Better pricing: At the heart of 0x RFQ is the expertise of sophisticated market makers. These market makers must beat the onchain price of AMMs in order to be included in a quote. At the same time, they also must compete with other RFQ market makers. This competition can drive large price improvements.
• Zero slippage: Because RFQ quotes are personally tailored for each trade on the smart contract level, users never incur slippage on the RFQ trades. Users will never pay a price worse than the quoted offer.
• Deeper liquidity: Professional market makers bring institutional liquidity onchain. 
• Lower reverts: RFQ routes show consistently lower revert rates compared to AMMs, improving execution reliability.

0x’s RFQ system provides competitive pricing and reliable execution - delivering better prices 52% of the time for the most highly traded pairs compared to AMMs.

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Permissioned DeFi as the bridge

Tokenization sets the stage for public equities to operate in a global, programmable, and always-on market. And new, compliant tokenization models are emerging as a first step toward that vision.

RFQ is uniquely positioned to support these models with:

1. Institutional-grade technology
2. Support for compliant tokenized equities
3. CEX-like execution in DeFi

0x is not only helping power access to tokenized equities, but ensuring that onchain equity swaps are competitive with traditional markets from day one. 

With 0x Swap API, applications can offer swaps for tokenized public equities with compliance baked-in - enabling users to trade tokenized equities reliability 24/7, at lightning fast speeds and the best prices.

Public equities aren’t coming onchain in the distant future  - it’s happening now. Institutional adoption is accelerating, regulatory clarity is emerging, and the infrastructure needed for scalable, compliant, and efficient markets is here. With trillions in market capitalization and growing institutional adoption, equities are poised to be the next frontier.

The future of equities is programmable, composable, and globally accessible - and we’re excited to be helping build this future.

Check out our developer docs to start building with 0x today, or reach out to us.