Coinbase Announces 1:1 Backed Tokenized US Stocks With Automatic Dividends

Coinbase announced on Tuesday that it plans to launch tokenized US stocks backed one-for-one by underlying equities, with automatic dividend payments and onchain settlement via its Base blockchain. The products will initially be available only to eligible users outside the United States, with no firm launch date disclosed.

CEO Brian Armstrong said the offering is structurally different from most existing tokenized stock products, which are typically structured as derivatives or IOUs rather than direct ownership. "For the first time, these are real 1:1 backed tokenized stocks you can trust," Armstrong said. "You own an actual piece of the company onchain." The platform will handle corporate actions including dividends and stock splits automatically.

Coinbase is deploying the products through its Coinbase Tokenize platform on Base, the Layer 2 network it launched in 2023. The exchange described the tokenized stocks as "coming soon" without specifying a timeline or listing which equities will be available at launch.

The announcement intensifies a race building across both crypto-native exchanges and traditional financial institutions. Kraken recently added tokenized US stocks for customers in more than 180 countries through its xStocks platform. Robinhood has announced plans for tokenized equities in Europe. Gemini and Bybit have explored similar products. On the TradFi side, BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and JPMorgan have each expanded tokenized fund offerings over the past year, and Citi has projected tokenized securities could grow into a multitrillion-dollar market by the end of the decade.

The core value proposition for non-US investors is access: instead of navigating foreign brokerage requirements and local restrictions, users can gain exposure to US equities through blockchain-based platforms that settle instantly and operate around the clock.

The structural claim Armstrong is making – genuine ownership, real dividends, real corporate actions – is meaningful if it holds up. Tokenized stock products have historically struggled with the gap between an onchain representation and the actual legal claim it gives the holder. Whether Coinbase's architecture delivers the ownership rights it is promising will be clearer when the full product terms are disclosed ahead of launch.

The tokenized stocks announcement was part of a broader product event on Tuesday in which Coinbase outlined ambitions across trading and financial services, signalling the exchange is positioning itself as a wider financial platform. US users remain locked out pending regulatory clarity on tokenized securities domestically.