The tokenized assets (RWA) market is no longer a niche experiment. With a total market capitalization approaching $1.08 billion and a monthly transaction volume exceeding $2.10 billion, this sector is confidently gaining momentum. A key player here is Ondo, which accounts for 43.61% of the market — about $870 million across 405 tokenized instruments. Now, the company is taking the next logical step by introducing derivatives.
In June, Ondo launched the Ondo Perps service in public beta. This product provides users outside the U.S. access to perpetual futures on tokenized versions of U.S. stocks, ETFs, commodities, and indices. The key features include leverage of up to 20x and 24/7 trading. The list of available assets already includes giants like Nvidia, Tesla, as well as gold, oil, silver, and the US 100 and US 500 indices.
The most interesting aspect is the collateral mechanism. Ondo Perps allows the use of not only stablecoins but also the tokenized securities themselves as margin. This fundamentally changes the approach to capital management. A trader no longer needs to hold separate stablecoin collateral to open a position if they already own tokenized stocks. This creates a more efficient and closed-loop ecosystem.
Why is collateral a key element?
Most crypto exchanges with perpetual contracts only accept cryptocurrencies as collateral. This is convenient for trading Bitcoin or Ether but creates inconveniences when dealing with traditional assets. A trader holding tokenized Nvidia shares would have to separately deposit stablecoins to open a position. A market maker, in turn, is forced to hedge risks through traditional brokers, leading to system fragmentation.
Ondo Perps solves this problem by allowing the tokenized assets themselves to be used as collateral. This means capital works more efficiently: fewer assets sit idle across different systems, and a market maker can hedge risks using the same collateral that is tied to the same markets.
The toughest challenges lie ahead
Despite the obvious advantages, derivatives on real-world assets (RWA) are a complex undertaking. Traders want to trade 24/7, but the primary liquidity for stocks and ETFs remains concentrated on traditional exchanges with their limited trading hours. During periods of high volatility, such as on news or macroeconomic data releases when regular markets are closed, a position with 20x leverage can quickly become unprofitable if the collateral valuation or hedging fails to keep up with the price movement.
Therefore, the success of Ondo Perps will be measured not by the number of available assets, but by the quality of execution: tight spreads, stable market depth, and accurate collateral valuation and liquidation under stress scenarios.
My analysis: Ondo Perps is not just another product; it is a landmark step towards the convergence of TradFi and DeFi. The company is attempting to create a unified trading environment where traditional assets and crypto instruments coexist on equal footing. If Ondo can solve the problems of liquidity and collateral valuation during traditional exchange off-hours, it could become a catalyst for a massive influx of institutional capital into the RWA sector. The question is no longer whether stocks can be tokenized, but whether these tokens can withstand the role of a full-fledged foundation for serious trading.