Coinbase Tokenizes Apple and Nvidia on Base for 24/7 Trading
Coinbase mints Apple and Nvidia shares as tokens on its Base chain, tradable around the clock. Here's what separates them from earlier stock products.
The Trading Day Loses Its Closing Bell
Coinbase is bringing Apple and Nvidia to its own blockchain, Base, as tokenized stocks. The tokens track real shares and trade around the clock, weekends included, long after the NYSE has gone dark. This is no side bet for Coinbase: it moves a slice of ordinary equity trading onto crypto rails and opens a revenue lane beyond the volatile trading fees that have squeezed the exchange of late.
What Sets These Tokens Apart
The break from earlier stock derivatives is custody. Hold the token and you hold it on-chain, in your own wallet, free to plug into DeFi as collateral, in lending, or traded against stablecoins. Older wrappers such as contracts-for-difference stayed parked on the issuer's balance sheet, leaving the customer with a claim rather than an asset. Coinbase says its token represents the share directly and moves without a gatekeeper. Settlement runs on Base, its Ethereum Layer 2, with second-level finality and cent-sized fees.
The Race for the Tokenized Share
Coinbase is late, but not alone. Robinhood already hands European users tokenized US equities; Kraken and Backed Finance run xStocks across several chains; Gemini is circling the same product. What's new is the venue. Base is Coinbase's own Layer 2, so the firm owns the full stack from customer to settlement. Tokenize the share and run the chain, and you get paid twice. The opening was cut in Washington: only the SEC's softer stance on on-chain securities gave US issuers the door to try this model at all.
What It Means for Traders
The prize here is the 24/7 window. Nvidia and Apple move on news that breaks overnight and on weekends: earnings leaks, Asian macro prints, tariff headlines. Until now the market only repriced that gap at the opening bell. Tokenized stocks close it, but they push the volatility into thin books with wide spreads. Trade overnight and you are effectively betting on the next regular open, with the token price as a leading but unreliable tell. It gets dicier where these jumpy equity tokens back DeFi loans: an off-hours move can trigger liquidations no stock market is there to cushion. The real question stays regulatory: whether the SEC tolerates a direct on-chain share for the long run decides if this pilot becomes a market.