Solana has reached a record 1.5 million tokenized equity holders, with the number growing fivefold since August, even as SOL continues to struggle near $100 following weeks of selling pressure. Summary Solana’s tokenized stock holders have reached a record 1.5 million, up fivefold since August, even as SOL continues to struggle near $100. Much of the tokenized stock trading takes place through stablecoins, meaning higher trading volumes do not necessarily create direct demand for SOL. Blockworks found that memecoin trading pairs and token rewards contributed to the rise in tokenized stock holders, with $31 million distributed to more than 360,000 wallets. SOL has remained under selling pressure throughout October, while withdrawals from Solana ETFs have added to the weakness in its price. According to an October 26 post from Solana, citing Blockworks data, the number of addresses holding tokenized stocks on the network has reached a new all-time high. However, the rapid growth has not translated into a corresponding recovery in SOL, which has fallen from approximately $124 at the beginning of October. The difference comes down partly to how tokenized stocks are traded and distributed. Much of the activity involves stablecoins, while research from Blockworks shows that token rewards and memecoin trading have contributed significantly to the rising holder count. Solana tokenized stock holders reach record levels Solana’s tokenized equity market has grown considerably over recent months as more financial platforms introduce blockchain-based versions of traditional securities. The Solana Foundation reported that tokenized stock holdings had reached 1 million wallets in September, when trading volume totaled roughly $4.4 billion and the value of outstanding tokenized equities reached $684 million. Since September, another 500,000 addresses have started holding tokenized stocks on Solana, although some investors may hold these assets across multiple wallets. Blockworks defines holders as addresses containing tokenized equity products, meaning a single investor can be counted more than once if they use multiple wallets. Meanwhile, the market has continued attracting financial firms. Securitize recently confirmed the availability of 12 tokenized U.S. stocks on Solana, including Apple, Nvidia, Tesla and Microsoft, for eligible investors. The products are backed by underlying shares, according to Securitize, with transactions settling in USDC. Why has tokenized stock growth not lifted SOL price? One reason lies in the way investors purchase tokenized equities. Many platforms allow users to buy stock tokens using stablecoins without having to purchase an equivalent amount of SOL. Securitize, for instance, accepts USDC for its tokenized stock offerings. SOL remains necessary for network transaction fees, but the amount required for each transaction is generally small. Consequently, billions of dollars in tokenized stock trading do not represent billions of dollars in direct demand for SOL. Blockworks research published on October 14 identified another factor behind the rapid growth in holder addresses. Between September 1 and October 11, memecoins paired with tokenized stocks generated $1.76 billion in trading volume, accounting for 31.5% of the $5.58 billion in tokenized equity decentralized exchange volume tracked during that period. Platforms such as StonkFun and Pump allowed memecoins to trade against stock tokens, meaning transactions involving those pairs were recorded as tokenized equity activity. The researchers found that reward programs distributed approximately $31 million in stock tokens to more than 360,000 wallets between August 3 and October 11. Nearly four out of five recipients had no previous record of purchasing a tokenized stock. The findings indicate that some of the growth in tokenized equity holders came from rewards distributed to existing crypto users, although the research does not establish how much of the latest 1.5 million total resulted from those programs. ETF withdrawals have added pressure on SOL Solana’s price has faced selling pressure throughout October despite continued growth in its financial applications. As crypto.news previously reported on October 16, SOL had fallen toward $104 after retreating from its earlier high near $124, while U.S. Solana ETFs recorded nine consecutive sessions of withdrawals. The selling continued ahead of the network’s scheduled Alpenglow upgrade. Data cited in a subsequent November price analysis showed that U.S. Solana ETFs recorded $6.7 million in net withdrawals on October 19 and another $2.6 million on October 20. SOL closed October 20 at $106.39, compared with approximately $121 at the beginning of the month. Those withdrawals provide a separate measure of investor demand for SOL, although the available figures do not establish how much of the cryptocurrency’s decline was directly caused by ETF selling. Tokenized equity trading continues to grow Trading activity has remained substantial despite the weakness in SOL. Data compiled by Stakecake showed that tokenized equities generated $157.2 million in Solana trading volume on October 20, followed by $150.8 million on October 21 and $168.3 million on October 23. The figures measure the value of stock tokens traded on decentralized exchanges, not revenue earned by the Solana network. Solana’s low transaction fees have helped support the growth of such applications, but they mean that higher transaction counts do not necessarily produce proportionate fee revenue. The distinction has become more relevant as tokenized securities expand beyond retail trading. JPMorgan Asset Management recently introduced two tokenized funds on Solana for qualified U.S. investors through its Morgan Money platform. The products, MONY and JLTXX, allow eligible investors to receive tokenized fund balances in approved blockchain wallets, with purchases and redemptions subject to the funds’ existing requirements. JLTXX’s prospectus requires approved wallet addresses for token transactions, while MONY’s documentation lists a $1 million initial investment minimum.
