February 3, 2026 marks a decisive turning point for the crypto ecosystem. MetaMask, the world’s most widely used non-custodial wallet, reaches a major milestone by integrating Ondo Global Markets, providing access to over 200 tokenized financial assets directly from the mobile application.
This convergence between traditional finance and cryptocurrencies is far more than a simple additional feature. It represents one of the first native implementations of real tokenized financial assets within a major self-custody wallet, redefining what a digital portfolio can offer.
An unprecedented asset catalog: 200+ stocks and ETFs at your fingertips
Eligible users can now access a remarkable range of American financial instruments: large-cap stocks like Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon, as well as popular ETFs such as the QQQ (Nasdaq-100). Commodities like gold and silver complement this offering through IAU and SLV ETFs.
What makes this integration revolutionary is the underlying technical mechanism. Assets take the form of GM tokens (Global Markets tokens) — blockchain tokens designed to precisely track the market price of underlying assets. Each token is fully backed by a real asset held with licensed U.S. broker-dealers, guaranteeing economic exposure aligned with traditional markets.
Ondo Finance is accelerating this expansion: 98 new assets added in January 2026, with the ambition to expand the catalog to over 1,000 securities listed on the NYSE and NASDAQ. The growth of tokenization shows no signs of slowing down.
Technical infrastructure designed for flexibility and accessibility
The integration relies on MetaMask Swaps, the exchange functionality built into the mobile wallet. Transactions occur exclusively in USDC on Ethereum mainnet, offering fast and transparent settlements on a proven blockchain.
Trading operates on a 24/5 schedule, from Sunday 8:05 PM ET to Friday 7:59 PM ET, aligned with extended traditional market hours. Token transfers, meanwhile, remain available 24/7, allowing permanent circulation of assets between wallets and protocols.
This architecture presents a critical structural advantage: unlike traditional brokers where assets are locked to a specific platform, GM tokens are freely transferable. A user can move positions to any compatible wallet, access different DeFi protocols for trading, leverage, or compose complex strategies impossible in the compartmentalized traditional financial system.
Ondo Global Markets also offers instant minting and redemptions within predefined limits, with liquidity comparable to underlying assets. Investors can even opt for institutional securities lending, generating additional revenue while maintaining explicit control over this option.
Geographic restrictions: regulatory reality hindering adoption
Despite its revolutionary potential, access to this functionality is not universal. Residents of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, the EEA, China, Russia, and several other jurisdictions are explicitly excluded.
Why? GM tokens are not registered under the 1933 U.S. Securities Act, making them incompatible with the most heavily regulated markets. They are specifically designed for non-American investors and offered subject to strict jurisdictional restrictions.
In Europe, the MiCA framework (Markets in Crypto-Assets) now regulates crypto-assets within the EU, while the DLT pilot regime facilitates blockchain experimentation in market infrastructures. In France, tokenization is legal under certain conditions — tokens representing financial assets are generally considered financial securities subject to corresponding regulations.
No traditional property rights: understanding GM token structure
A crucial point to understand: GM tokens confer no direct property rights over underlying securities, nor political or financial rights such as dividends. Token holders obtain economic exposure to assets, following their price movements, but do not become shareholders in the traditional sense.
This structure draws inspiration from the stablecoin model: simplicity and ease of use above all. Holders can exchange tokens for stablecoins while benefiting from the full economic returns of underlying assets. In case of stock splits, total economic exposure remains unchanged without user action — one token continues to represent the same economic exposure while now corresponding to multiple underlying shares.
Underlying assets are held in bankruptcy-remote entities, providing investors with secured claims. Unless explicitly approved, securities will not be lent to short sellers, and any income from securities lending will be returned to investors.
Ondo Finance: the tokenization leader with $2 billion in TVL
Ondo Finance has established itself as a major market player. In January 2026, the platform surpassed the $2 billion total value locked (TVL) milestone — more than double the TVL recorded in March 2025.
This growth is primarily driven by OUSG, its flagship product: a fund holding short-term tokenized U.S. Treasury bonds. OUSG currently holds over $820 million in Treasuries. Ethereum dominates TVL distribution with approximately $1.5 billion, followed by Solana ($248 million) and BNB Smart Chain ($123 million).
Ondo has also recorded $2 billion in trading volume for its tokenized stocks and ETFs, consolidating its position as the leader in the real-world asset (RWA) tokenization segment.
Next phase: deployment on Solana in early 2026, aimed at leveraging the blockchain’s high processing capacity and consumer-oriented ecosystem. The model will remain identical — custody-backed instruments providing economic exposure to genuine securities rather than synthetic products.
The global RWA market: from $35 billion to potentially $18,900 billion by 2033
Growth in the real-world asset tokenization market is spectacular. By end of 2025, the market surpassed the $35 billion milestone, segmented as follows:
- Tokenized private credit: $18.91 billion
- Tokenized U.S. Treasury bonds: over $6 billion
- Institutional funds: BlackRock BUIDL exceeds $2.3 billion
- User base: over 82,000 unique holders
Future projections exceed expectations. The Boston Consulting Group estimates the market could reach $16 trillion by 2030, then $18.9 trillion by 2033, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 53%. McKinsey cites a potential of $2 trillion in the coming years, while Grayscale envisions potential growth of 1,000x in certain segments.
These perspectives are encouraged by progressive regulatory clarification (MiCA in Europe, GENIUS Act in the United States), more mature technological infrastructure, and market structuring enabling significant institutional investments.
2026: the year of massive institutional adoption
The World Economic Forum at Davos 2026 identified real-world asset tokenization as a major theme of the year. Several structural trends are emerging:
Institutional adoption: 59% of institutional investors plan to increase their allocation to tokenized assets in 2026. Giants like BlackRock, JPMorgan, BNY Mellon, and Euroclear are actively deploying tokenized products at scale, facilitated by regulatory clarity achieved in 2025.
Regulatory convergence: Legal frameworks are clarifying with MiCA, the GENIUS Act, and strengthened standards in Japan. This progressive harmonization facilitates cross-border development of tokenized products.
Expansion of use cases: Beyond Treasury bonds that opened the way, tokenization now extends to real estate, art, private equity, and commodities. Stocks and ETFs represent the new frontier.
Integration with neobanks: Fintech and neobanks are beginning to offer tokenized assets to their clients, democratizing access beyond crypto early adopters.
France as pioneer: Lise, Europe’s first tokenized stock exchange
In this global context, France has positioned itself as a European pioneer with Lise, Europe’s first tokenized stock exchange. This initiative illustrates how European jurisdictions are creating regulated frameworks for tokenization while maintaining investor protection.
The European DLT pilot regime, which came into force in 2023, aims to facilitate blockchain experimentation in market infrastructures while guaranteeing financial stability. This process nonetheless requires compliance with numerous regulatory requirements, particularly those related to trading platform management and settlement systems.
MetaMask: from simple wallet to gateway to hybrid finance
With this integration, MetaMask evolves from its traditional role as a crypto wallet toward a unified hybrid finance platform. The wallet becomes a convergence point where stocks, ETFs, commodities, and crypto tokens coexist on the same infrastructure, all accessible in self-custody.
Joe Lubin, Ethereum co-founder and CEO of ConsenSys, summarizes this vision: « Brokerage accounts, fragmented applications, and rigid trading windows have not evolved significantly. Integrating Ondo’s tokenized stocks and ETFs directly into MetaMask shows what a better model looks like. A single wallet, self-custody, where people can navigate between crypto and traditional assets without intermediaries and without surrendering control. That’s the future we’re actively building with MetaMask ».
ConsenSys is also developing its ecosystem with the launch of Meta USD (mUSD), a stablecoin now operational on Ethereum mainnet and the Linea layer-2. This multi-product expansion aims to create a complete token economy around MetaMask. A MetaMask token (MASK) is currently in development and could arrive « sooner than expected, » being « significantly tied to the decentralization of certain aspects of the MetaMask platform. »
Toward programmable financial infrastructure: « Money Legos »
Beyond current limitations, this integration illustrates a deeper structural transformation: the emergence of programmable financial infrastructure where traditional assets and crypto-assets coexist seamlessly.
Ondo Global Markets offers complete APIs enabling brokers, asset issuers, and other platforms to build on this infrastructure, reducing costs, modernizing back-end systems, and improving user experience. This modular approach transforms financial assets into composable « money legos », enabling sophisticated strategies impossible in the compartmentalized traditional financial system.
The ability to cross-collateralize positions by combining tokenized securities and crypto-assets, access institutional margin options through third-party protocols, and compose different financial activities across different protocols opens unprecedented perspectives. Investors can borrow against their tokenized positions without switching brokers — a considerable advantage compared to the rigidity of traditional platforms.
Challenges that remain
Despite these advances, several obstacles persist. Geographic restrictions exclude a large portion of MetaMask’s user base, particularly in Europe and North America. This limitation represents a major barrier to mass adoption.
Regulatory complexity remains a significant obstacle. Each jurisdiction applies its own rules regarding securities, creating a mosaic of compliance difficult to navigate for global platforms. The lack of GM token registration under the 1933 Securities Act makes them inaccessible to American markets.
The absence of traditional property rights could confuse investors accustomed to regular stocks. Not receiving dividends or voting rights may be perceived as a significant limitation, even though economic exposure to price fluctuations remains intact.
As MetaMask is neither regulated nor covered by any official financial authority license, users receive no institutional protection or insurance guarantee in case of breach or theft. Security relies entirely on user responsibility and the robustness of audited open-source code.
Conclusion: a pivotal moment for decentralized finance
The integration of tokenized traditional financial assets into MetaMask represents far more than a simple additional feature. It’s a pivotal moment marking the transition from a relatively isolated crypto ecosystem toward genuine alternative financial infrastructure capable of absorbing and transforming traditional markets.
With the RWA market potentially reaching $100 billion by end of 2026 and potentially several trillion dollars in following years, tokenization is no longer a marginal experiment but a major structural evolution of financial markets.
As Ondo Finance president Ian De Bode noted: « 2026 will be the year of tokenized stocks. Many people in traditional finance are not prepared for what’s coming ». With billions already on-chain and trillions to come, tokenization is indeed reshaping the contours of global finance.
It remains to be seen how far this model can extend as regulators clarify their positions and technical infrastructure continues to mature. One thing is certain: the boundary between traditional finance and crypto is becoming increasingly porous, and MetaMask is positioning itself as one of the main bridges between these two worlds.
