The International Monetary Fund has found that the bulk of tokenized equity trading takes place outside regular trading hours. The finding, part of the IMF's ongoing look at digital asset markets, suggests that demand for round-the-clock access to tokenized stocks is real — not just a crypto-native curiosity.
But the same assessment cautions that building deep, liquid, and resilient tokenized equity markets remains a challenge. In other words, the appetite is there; the market structure isn't.
Why trades cluster after the bell
Regular exchanges in the U.S. run from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern. Tokenized equities, which represent shares on a blockchain and can trade 24/7, don't follow that schedule. The IMF's finding that most activity happens outside those hours points to a few things.
First, the people trading tokenized stocks likely include a large share of non-U.S. investors who can't easily access Wall Street during their own working hours. Second, crypto-native traders who are used to 24/7 markets may be treating tokenized equities the same way. Third, anyone who wants to react to earnings or news after the close has a venue that traditional brokers don't offer at that hour.
That's demand. Whether it's sustainable demand is a different question.
Liquidity is the missing piece
The IMF's assessment that deep, liquid, and resilient markets remain a challenge is a polite way of saying the order books are thin. Tokenized equities are still a small corner of global markets. When trading is spread across 24 hours, volume that would be concentrated in a six-and-a-half-hour session gets diluted. Spreads widen. Slippage grows. Large orders become harder to fill without moving the price.
Resilience matters too. A market that only functions when volatility is low isn't much of a market. If tokenized equity venues can't handle a sharp sell-off — or a flash crash at 3 a.m. — they'll struggle to attract the institutional money that gives a market its depth.
The infrastructure gap
There's also the plumbing. Tokenized equities need custody, settlement, and regulatory clarity that traditional equities already have. Most jurisdictions haven't decided how tokenized stocks fit into existing securities law. Some have signaled openness; others have been slower. Until that's settled, the biggest players — asset managers, pension funds, broker-dealers — are likely to stay on the sidelines.
The IMF's finding doesn't say tokenized equity trading is failing. It says the demand is real and the supply of market quality isn't there yet. That's a gap, not a verdict.
What to watch
Two things will show whether tokenized equities can move past the current stage. The first is whether trading volume during regular hours starts to grow alongside the after-hours activity. If it does, that suggests tokenized venues are attracting the same investors who use traditional exchanges, not just a separate 24/7 crowd. The second is whether regulators in major markets provide clear rules for tokenized equity issuance and trading. Without that, the infrastructure gap stays open.
The IMF hasn't put a timeline on either. Neither has anyone else.
