Bybit and Backed partner to bring tokenized Nvidia and Strategy stocks to Mantle

Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit and Backed Finance have partnered in an effort to bring tokenized stocks to the Layer 2 Mantle blockchain, the companies said on Friday.

Backed's xStocks — also tapped by centralized exchange Kraken and Solana-based protocols like Kamino, Raydium, and Jupiter — provides investors an opportunity to trade tokenized shares in major publicly listed companies like Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, and Strategy. Onchain transaction volume for xStocks has reportedly surpassed $1.6 billion, the company said.

By allowing traders to withdraw and deposit funds via Mantle, users will be able to "move assets between Bybit and Mantle efficiently and securely, accelerating user onboarding and driving liquidity to the blockchain," the companies said.

Real-world assets (RWAs), including tokenized equities, are expected, by some, to grow into a market worth trillions of dollars. Backed's xStocks allows non-U.S. investors "to gain exposure to traditional equities through digital assets that can trade permissionlessly, around the clock and across multiple ecosystems."

"Together with Backed and Bybit, we’re turning tokenized equities from static instruments into programmable assets that scale into new innovations and use cases across the Mantle ecosystem," Mantle advisor Emily Bao said.

Bybit is one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Mantle has branded itself as a "premier distribution layer and gateway for institutions and TradFi to connect with onchain liquidity and access real-world assets." The network transitioned into a ZK rollup in collaboration with Succinct Labs late last year. 

"With tokenized equities set to arrive on Mantle, millions of users will be able to access them from apps and wallets they’re already familiar with," the two companies said.