Base is moving quickly to close the gap with Robinhood after its founder, Jesse Pollak, revealed the Ethereum layer‑2 is working with Coinbase on tokenized equities that would be backed 1:1 by underlying shares.
In a July 21 post on X, Pollak acknowledged that Robinhood Chain — which launched its EVM‑compatible mainnet on July 1 — “did the right thing” by bringing stock‑linked assets into an EVM environment. He added that Base had been “behind” on this front and said he was “frustrated,” but that the network was “close to fixing it with Coinbase.” Pollak did not disclose a launch date, a list of supported stocks or the legal structure for the planned product.
What’s reportedly different about the Coinbase/Base approach is its promise of true equity ownership: Coinbase announced in June that its planned tokenized stocks for non‑U.S. customers would be 1:1 backed by the underlying shares and include dividend payments and shareholder rights. That contrasts with Robinhood’s Classic Stock Tokens, which Robinhood discloses are derivative contracts under MiFID II — customers do not own the underlying shares or receive shareholder rights such as voting, although Robinhood says it holds supporting assets through a U.S.‑licensed institution.
Important operational details remain unclear. Neither Pollak’s post nor Coinbase’s prior announcement explains exactly how shares would be issued, custodied or represented on Base, or whether the tokens will be freely transferable between wallets and DeFi applications. Pollak argued the 1:1 model “should scale much better from a trust, capital efficiency, and institutional acceptedness” standpoint, but that is his assessment pending published product terms and operating data.
The moves come as tokenized stocks and real‑world assets (RWA) expand across crypto. RWA.xyz data put the tokenized stock market at about $1.85 billion; broader tokenized real‑world assets (excluding stablecoins) were estimated at roughly $31–34 billion. Competitors are proliferating: Backpack launched 24/7 trading for selected tokenized U.S. stocks and says its model provides direct ownership, while Kraken‑backed xStocks and others are also building products.
Coinbase has framed tokenized securities as part of a broader strategy to enable longer trading hours, fractional access and faster settlement — points CEO Brian Armstrong has publicly emphasized. But Coinbase’s June plan targeted non‑U.S. customers, and Pollak did not confirm whether the Base product would be available in the U.S. Regulatory access and product structure will be central differentiators: custody model, whether users get shareholder rights, transferability, market access, and how issuers and custodians comply with securities rules.
Pollak’s comments put Base on a clear path toward tokenized equities on an EVM rollup, and tie Coinbase’s asset‑backing approach to that infrastructure. Before investors and developers can compare offerings, however, Coinbase and Base will need to publish concrete product terms and operational details so buyers can weigh custody, ownership rights and regulatory exposure against Robinhood Chain’s derivative model.
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