Coinbase has launched tokenized versions of Apple, Nvidia, Meta, and Alphabet shares on its Base blockchain for eligible investors outside the United States. The products track major technology stocks while allowing users to hold them in personal wallets and use them across decentralized finance applications.
The new assets give investors blockchain-based exposure to four of the world’s largest technology companies. Users can buy the tokens, hold them directly and move them across supported on-chain applications.
Coinbase says each token has one-to-one backing from a real share that a regulated custodian holds. The structure aims to protect the backing assets if the company encounters financial difficulties.
The exchange also created the B20 technical standard for these products. B20 adds compliance controls and tools for handling corporate events, including actions such as stock splits.
The legal structure differs from direct ownership of a conventional Apple, Nvidia, Meta or Alphabet share. A Coinbase-created special purpose vehicle, or SPV, in Abu Dhabi buys the underlying shares and holds them in custody.
The SPV then issues corresponding blockchain tokens against those shares. Token buyers hold an economic interest linked to the underlying stock rather than direct ownership of the company share itself.
So what exactly does an investor own when buying one of these tokens? The documentation shows that the token provides economic exposure through the SPV structure and does not reproduce every traditional shareholder right.
Dividend treatment also differs from conventional share ownership. The documentation states that cash dividends from underlying shares do not necessarily reach token holders in the same way traditional shareholders receive them.
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The products can move beyond simple price exposure since users can deploy them inside decentralized finance applications. In theory, token holders can use the assets as collateral or trade them on decentralized exchanges.
For example, an investor could post tokenized Nvidia exposure as collateral to borrow stablecoins. A user could also supply the token to a decentralized exchange and earn trading fees through liquidity activity.
Government bonds and investment-grade debt previously accounted for much of the tokenization market described in the available material. Coinbase’s launch extends that model to major technology equities. Early trading remained modest, according to Base’s own blog post. Volumes represented only a small share of wider DeFi activity, showing that adoption remained limited during the opening days.
The launch also fits within the broader real-world asset tokenization market. European markets have already used central bank money to settle tokenized bond issuances.
Coinbase’s Base launch gives eligible non-U.S. investors on-chain exposure to Apple, Nvidia, Meta and Alphabet through tokens backed one-to-one by underlying shares. The tokens can enter DeFi, but holders receive an economic interest through an Abu Dhabi SPV rather than direct stock ownership. Investors should review the legal structure and dividend treatment before buying.