Tokenized asset specialist Ondo Finance has abandoned plans to build a conventional layer-1 blockchain, instead introducing a trading network it says is better suited for the next wave of onchain financial assets.
Dubbed Ondo Network, the system marks a shift from the company's February 2025 vision for Ondo Chain, a blockchain for institutional finance and tokenized real-world assets. After building its new perpetual futures platform, Ondo Perps, the firm said it concluded that a traditional blockchain wasn't the best tool for handling the speed and privacy institutional trading requires.
Ondo Perps is the first application using the network, with plans to offer tokenized assets as collateral for trading.
The pivot comes as tokenization gathers momentum across Wall Street. Tokenization — the process of representing traditional assets such as stocks, bonds and funds as blockchain-based tokens — is gaining traction as firms look to modernize capital markets with faster settlement and around-the-clock trading. At the same time, perpetual futures, once largely confined to crypto markets, are expanding to traditional assets such as stocks and commodities like oil and gold.
Ondo has emerged as one of the sector's largest issuers, with about $2.6 billion in tokenized U.S. Treasury products across OUSG and USDY and roughly $850 million in tokenized equities, according to rwa.xyz. The firm’s broker-dealer obtained last week FINRA approval to launch regulated markets and services for tokenized securities.
The new network represents the company's next step in moving beyond issuing tokenized assets to building the infrastructure for trading them.
Ondo Network separates trade execution from settlement instead of processing every trade on a public blockchain. Orders are executed privately for greater speed, while finalized asset transfers settle on public blockchains.
The approach is designed to address a key concern for institutional investors, who want the benefits of blockchain settlement without exposing their trading activity, positions or order flow to competitors.
Ondo said the network could eventually support spot markets, lending, structured products and settlement infrastructure alongside perpetual futures.