Crypto Biz: Wall Street closes at 4. Tokenized shares continue to trade

Tokenized stocks drag trading activity beyond Wall Street hours, while bitcoin miners face a costly deployment of artificial intelligence and new accounting rules could benefit stablecoins.

Tokenization is beginning to reshape traditional financial markets, and stocks are increasingly in the spotlight. According to RWA.xyz, most of the attention is focused on the $3.3 billion tokenized stake in the chain, but one of the biggest innovations may happen before Wall Street opens and after it closes.

According to the latest industry data, more than 70% of tokenized equity trading volume on the BNB chain now occurs outside of regular US market hours, with similar patterns at Solana and Base.

Tokenized stocks allow investors to trade U.S. stocks across time zones without waiting for Wall Street's opening bell, potentially changing how liquidity is distributed throughout the day.

However, many of the platforms that drive this activity remain off-limits to US investors, even as US regulators begin to make room for tokenized equity trading.

This week's Crypto Biz covers tokenized stock trading, the economics of Bitcoin mining, proposed accounting rules that could make it easier for companies to treat stablecoins as cash equivalents, and Bitcoin Stereo's treasury expansion.

The majority of equity tokenized trading on Solana and BNB Chain now takes place outside of normal US market hours, indicating that 24/7 access is becoming a major selling point for equity issued on the chain.

According to Blockworks data cited by The Kobeissi Letter, over 70% of tokenized equity trading volume on the BNB chain occurs outside of the traditional Eastern trading window of 9:30am to 4:00pm. This figure is 63% in Solana and nearly 60% in Base.

Activity is also increasing. Jupiter reported a 50% month-over-month increase in trading volume for tokenized assets, while data from RWA.xyz showed that the value of tokenized shares increased by 15% over the past 30 days to nearly $3.3 billion.

The move comes as the US Securities and Exchange Commission's innovation exemption opens the way for eligible platforms to trade US-listed tokenized shares on public blockchains, subject to disclosure and shareholder protection requirements. However, existing offerings such as xStocks and Ondo Global Markets are largely unavailable to US investors, limiting domestic participation in the growing market.

Bitcoin treasury firm Strive increased its holdings by more than 11% last week, using proceeds from warrant exercises to expand its cryptocurrency holdings while increasing its bitcoin exposure per share.

In a Tuesday filing with the SEC, Strive disclosed that it bought 3,311 BTC in the week ending Oct. 9 at an average price of roughly $84,500 per coin. The purchases brought its total holdings to 32,773 bitcoins, making it the fifth-largest publicly traded bitcoin holder.

CEO Matt Cole said investors have committed $208 million in warrants, with about $15.3 million still remaining. Expires Tuesday.

Stereo also amended its governance documents to set a minimum binding issue price of $100 for its SATA preferred stock, which was trading at $99.40. Meanwhile, bitcoin traded near $83,300, below Strive's average purchase price for the week, while its common stock, ASST, was little changed at $27.52.

Bitcoin mining companies expanding into artificial intelligence and high-performance computing are facing a wider gap in borrowing costs as they consider the risks of large-scale data center projects.

Securing AI clients is only part of the challenge, according to Miner Blocks Bridge Weekly. Miners also need billions of dollars to build facilities, buy equipment and secure electrical infrastructure, with financing terms increasingly dependent on the client and the likelihood of project completion.

The differences are evident in recent transactions. IREN secured $3.65 billion in June at a compound interest rate of 6 percent, followed by another $2.4 billion in August at a fixed rate of 9 percent. However, the agreements cover different projects, making direct comparisons difficult.

Financial needs are significant. A June BlocksBridge analysis, citing VanEck, estimated that publicly traded bitcoin miners would need $50 billion to fund their AI infrastructure. IREN alone faces a $21.1 billion funding gap, followed by Riot Platforms at $7.2 billion and HIVE Digital Technologies at $4.6 billion.

Proposed change in US accounting According to a report from Tempo Blockchain, the standards could make stablecoins more attractive to corporate treasuries by allowing tokens to qualify as cash equivalents on companies' balance sheets.

Under current accounting practices, stablecoin holdings may not be counted in a company's reported cash reserves, potentially affecting liquidity ratios and loan obligations, even when the tokens are fully backed by US dollars.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board's (FASB) proposal could change that, though Tempo noted that companies would need direct redemption rights with stablecoin issuers to qualify. For example, simply buying USDC through a cryptocurrency exchange does not necessarily meet this requirement.

Coinbase previously classified USDC and other payment stablecoins as cash equivalents in its 2025 annual report, supported by a redemption arrangement with Circle.

The proposal is open for public comment until Nov. 19, after which the FASB will consider feedback before setting final rules and their effective dates.

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