Base plans 1:1-backed tokenized US equities launch

Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2, is moving toward launching 1:1-backed tokenized U.S. equities, with shares like Apple and Tesla to be held in regulated custody and provide on-chain transfer, dividend pass-through, and shareholder rights. The push follows regulatory progress, including Nasdaq’s tokenized-securities rule, and has sparked cautious optimism in market sentiment about a Base token launch by 2026. Pollak acknowledged Base has trailed Robinhood Chain in tokenized-equities deployment, but said Base is close to “fixing” and moving ahead with Coinbase on a scalable, 1:1 backing model for equities, differentiating it from derivative structures used by some rivals. In mid-2026, Base shifted its focus from a social-first approach to financial applications, including trading, payments, AI agents, and tokenized assets, signaling a broader pivot in strategy. While exact launch dates remain undisclosed, multiple statements from Pollak and related reports describe an imminent push toward tokenized equities on Base, with ongoing attention to custody, compliance, and the architecture of distributing equity-like rights on-chain.