Here’s how Near Protocol and Ondo are setting new ground for crypto and tokenized trading

Tokenized Real-World Assets (RWAs) are gaining the attention of traditional and crypto investors at both retail and institutional levels, driven by the United States (US) Government’s push to migrate Traditional Finance (TradFi) on-chain. Meanwhile, Near Protocol (NEAR) and Ondo (ONDO) are breaking new ground for crypto and tokenized trading – even without the CLARITY Act in place.

Let’s start from the beginning. 

Tokenization seed in the US stock market 

Earlier this year, on March 24, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) announced a partnership with Securitize to develop infrastructure for the tokenized securities market, enabling faster settlement. In addition, the Nasdaq received approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to tokenize US securities from the Russell 1000 Index and selected funds. These decisions opened the door to tokenized stocks, marking a shift in capital flows in the crypto market.

Great fall of the CLARITY Act

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, widely seen as the poster boy bill for the pro-crypto market standard in the US, was focused on clarifying judicial distinctions and addressing concerns about Decentralized Finance (DeFi) services, such as interest/rewards on stablecoin holdings and transfers.

However, the CLARITY Act failed to advance in the US Senate for a final vote on September 15, as 50 Democratic senators voted against it, stating concerns over the ethics language tied to the US President Donald Trump family’s crypto holdings.

Another way to bring CLARITY to the US crypto market

Despite the failure of the most anticipated crypto bill, the US SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are seeking other tools to provide a regulatory framework. Within 48 hours of calling the time on the CLARITY Act, the US SEC rolled out the “Innovation Exemption,” granting a five-year conditional path for selected exchanges to trade tokenized US stocks through permissioned automated market makers and liquidity pools. 

At the same time, the CFTC filed for Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets. Amid such efforts, NEAR Protocol and Ondo have emerged as key players in the tokenized RWAs sector, offering features that enable them to compete with TradFi and offer tokenized products.

NEAR Protocol and Ondo grow demand for tokenized assets

NEAR Protocol’s multichain transaction pool, called NEAR Intents, has introduced features that let users hold positions while maintaining total confidentiality. The initiative began in collaboration with Hyperliquid, offering confidential perpetuals before expanding to tokenized assets in partnership with Ondo, giving users access to US stocks, Treasury bills, and exposure to Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).

On the other hand, Ondo provides users with a wide range of tokenized services similar to traditional finance. The recently launched three single-token BlackRock portfolios on the platform target eligible investors outside the US.

Despite the decentralized infrastructure of the platforms, the means of depositing funds are subject to strict Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements. In addition, NEAR Intents has shown it can intercept money-laundering activity, as it did with a recent attempt to cash out $50 million linked to the Bitget exchange hack, which was blocked.

The rise of tokenized assets

According to the on-chain data from rwa.xyz, Ondo ranks as the leading provider of tokenized treasuries, stocks, and ETFs, with a distributed asset value of around $3.87 billion as of September 30, up nearly 9.35% in 30 days. Ondo offers around 460 tokenized assets to more than 515,000 holders, with nearly 25% growth in holder count over the last 30 days. In addition, the transfer volume last month totaled roughly $2.30 billion, representing a 50% increase from the previous month and suggesting a steady rise in tokenized trading activity.

On the other hand, NEAR Intents, which offers privacy-focused transaction features to crypto users, recorded the Confidential Total Value Locked at $156.43 million on September 29. While this was below the September 27 peak of $187.3 million, the overall trend still reflects strong inflows of less than $50 million on a daily basis before September. 

What’s next?

The privacy feature offered by NEAR Intents and the tokenized RWA products available through Ondo are quickly closing the gap between traditional and crypto markets, while providing the added benefit of faster settlement. The first phase of this transition still involves bringing the old books on-chain, after which the need for privacy – similar to holding large tickets in the traditional market – could further support adoption of NEAR Intents and encourage competing protocols. Meanwhile, with the CLARITY Act stalled and the US midterm elections approaching, further legislative action remains uncertain. That leaves crypto platforms on their own to expand their offerings of tokenized assets, with NEAR Protocol and Ondo in the lead (for now).