The exchange-traded fund provider 21Shares has submitted a request to US regulators for a product that mirrors the spot price of Ondo, the primary token of the decentralized finance platform Ondo Finance.
On Tuesday, 21Shares filed a preliminary prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the “21Shares Ondo Trust,” which seeks to directly possess Ondo (ONDO) tokens and monitor its performance through the CME CF Ondo Finance-Dollar Reference Rate. Coinbase will manage the custody of the tokens.
This will serve as a passive investment option with no speculation or leverage involved. Authorized participants are permitted to create or redeem shares either in cash or in-kind.
ONDO acts as the native utility token of Ondo Chain, a layer-1 proof-of-stake blockchain concentrating on institutional-grade financial markets and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs).
Ondo possesses a market capitalization of $3.5 billion, with a circulating supply of 3.1 billion out of a total of 10 billion tokens. Currently, it is priced at $1.12, reflecting a 48% decrease from its all-time high of $2.14 in December, according to CoinGecko.
ONDO linked with the Trumps
The Trump family’s DeFi platform, World Liberty Financial, has been a supporter of Ondo Finance, having incorporated the platform’s token into its assets.
In December, World Liberty Financial acquired $250,000 worth of ONDO, and it presently holds 342,000 tokens valued at approximately $383,000, according to Nansen.
Nonetheless, the Trump DeFi platform’s ONDO holdings represent merely 0.2% of the total $208 million portfolio, which is primarily composed of stablecoins, wrapped Ether (ETH), and Bitcoin (BTC).
Emphasis on institutional RWA tokenization
Earlier this month, Ondo Finance secured the SEC-registered broker-dealer Oasis Pro, intending to launch tokenized securities in collaboration with Pantera Capital.
Related: $250M Ondo Catalyst fund hints at ‘arms race’ for RWA tokenization
Oasis Pro is recognized by the SEC as an Alternative Trading System and transfer agent, signifying it’s a registered non-exchange trading platform capable of managing security ownership. It has also been a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority since 2020.
Ondo Chain, the institution-centric layer-1 blockchain for Wall Street entities to tokenize RWAs, was revealed in February.
RWA onchain value skyrockets
The value of tokenized real-world assets on-chain has surged dramatically this year, increasing by 58% to nearly $25 billion, according to RWA.xyz.
The majority of these assets, mainly private credit and US Treasurys, are tokenized on Ethereum, which holds a 55% market share.
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