Tokenised stocks improve capital efficiency, study shows

By Divya Shah

Why does it matter: The study demonstrates how tokenised assets can enhance capital efficiency, creating new opportunities for FinTechs to offer integrated trading, lending and investment services through unified digital finance platforms.

Bitget, in partnership with digital asset research firm Block Scholes, released a study examining how tokenised equities can improve capital efficiency when used alongside crypto assets within a unified trading account. 

The study, titled Capital Efficiency, Correlation Risk and Multi-Asset Trading on Bitget’s Cross-Asset Unified Account, explored how tokenised stocks have evolved beyond providing market access to becoming usable collateral within multi-asset portfolios.  

The report demonstrated that a modelled portfolio valued at $1 million required approximately $165,000 less capital when tokenised equities were used as collateral through Bitget’s unified account structure. 

The analysis was based on a portfolio consisting of tokenised AI and semiconductor stocks, Bitcoin and Ethereum perpetual contracts, and a short Nasdaq-100 ETF perpetual position. Under traditional separate-account structures, around $340,000 would have been required to support the positions.  

By allowing tokenised equities to contribute to a shared collateral pool, Bitget’s Cross-Asset Unified Account reduced the capital requirement to approximately $175,000. 

“Tokenisation has moved beyond the question of access,” said Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget. “Moving assets onchain is only the first step. This study shows what becomes possible when different asset classes can contribute to the same pool of capital rather than sitting in separate accounts. This is what we have been building towards at Bitget where capital can move more efficiently across markets, while the risk systems underneath it evolve with that flexibility.” 

The study also examined potential risks associated with greater capital efficiency. Block Scholes found that portfolios backed by tokenised-equity collateral were more vulnerable to market downturns when both collateral and positions were influenced by similar economic factors.

In stress-testing scenarios, the modelled portfolio reached liquidation after an estimated 21% correlated market decline, compared with 27% when USDT was used as collateral. 

Researchers noted that these risks are becoming increasingly important as crypto assets and equities react to many of the same macroeconomic trends. The study further showed that eligible tokenised stocks can maintain equity exposure, earn dividend distributions in USDT and simultaneously support margin requirements or stablecoin borrowing within a unified account structure.  

The findings underscored a broader shift in tokenised markets, where innovation is moving beyond asset tokenisation toward deeper integration of traditional and digital assets within a single capital management framework.