Coinbase Stocks ($COIN) or Edel Finance ($EDEL): Which Should You Buy in 2025?

Coinbase has confirmed its plan to launch tokenized stocks and prediction markets, pushing the exchange’s horizon well beyond crypto trading. 

The move signals a major step toward mainstream adoption of tokenized equities, which have increasingly become the most-discussed branch of the blockchain economy. It also signals the launch of serious competition in the blockchain-based prediction market, which has been dominated by Polymarket.

According to reports, the equities will be issued directly by Coinbase rather than being sourced from external partners.

The Coinbase Stocks would enable users to speculate on future events while trading blockchain-based representations of equity securities.

Coinbase has more than 105 million users, including 10.8 million monthly active users. Could this user base push tokenized equities into the mainstream and potentially upend the legacy infrastructure used to manage assets?

Why Coinbase’s Move Matters for Tokenized Equities

According to RWA.xyz data, the value of the tokenized real-world asset market has grown to roughly $18.2 billion, representing an increase of more than 400% over the past year. There is a growing consensus among analysts that tokenized stocks could represent the next major growth opportunity within the crypto market.

Coinbase’s announcement is arguably the most significant development in tokenized equities since Ondo Finance ($ONDO) emerged as the first major project to establish a foothold in the sector through its tokenization solutions. 

Coinbase has described this initiative as the creation of an “everything exchange,” aiming to bring all tradable assets on-chain, where they believe they will benefit from improved security, liquidity, and accessibility.

“We’re building an exchange for everything,” said Max Branzburg, Vice President of Product at Coinbase. “Everything you want to trade, in a one-stop shop, on-chain.”

The broader implications are substantial. Coinbase processes over $1 trillion in annual trading volume and remains one of the most widely recognized crypto exchanges globally.

The announcement has been followed by the launch of the Edel Finance testnet, a platform where users can lend and borrow hundreds of tokenized stocks, including some of the world’s most prominent companies such as NVIDIA, Meta, and Alibaba.

Coinbase aims to dominate the stock tokenization market.

The  Missing Layer: Tokenized Stocks Need Lending and Borrowing

“Tokenized stocks solve the problem of access, but access alone does not create a functioning market,” said Andrés Soltermann, Edel CEO. “Without lending, borrowing, and short-selling infrastructure, tokenized equities remain static representations rather than productive financial instruments. Real markets require capital efficiency, liquidity, and risk management, and that is the gap Edel is built to address.”

The official Edel Finance documentation outlines a fundamental issue facing the securities lending market for decades; it has been dominated by a small number of intermediaries and brokers, characterized by opaque pricing, long settlement cycles, and limited access.

The Edel Finance ecosystem aims to solve this issue, and the launch of its testnet has demonstrated exactly how the team has worked to develop a leading lending and borrowing market for tokenized stocks.

The testnet allows users to purchase mock-tokenized stocks such as Meta and NVIDIA using bETH or the native $EDEL token, then lend those assets to earn an estimated yield. Users can also borrow tokenized equities, enabling on-chain long and short exposure by posting stocks or crypto as collateral.

The testnet launch coincided with Coinbase’s announcement, underscoring growing demand for infrastructure that allows tokenized equities to function as real financial instruments rather than simple trading assets.

Coinbase Stocks and The Broader Tokenized Stock Stack

Coinbase Stocks, if successful, will likely become the primary rails that onboard users into the tokenized equities market. The platform could provide a clear route to broader user acquisition and the distribution of tokenized stocks at scale, leveraging Coinbase’s existing global reach and trusted brand.

Behind the scenes, other projects are likely to deliver critical upgrades to the infrastructure introduced by Coinbase. Edel Finance is one example of this next layer of development, offering a new approach to how users manage equities by tapping into the capabilities of blockchain technology to improve asset efficiency, liquidity, and accessibility.

“Exchanges bring assets on-chain, but infrastructure determines what those assets can actually do,” said Andrés Soltermann. “Edel is focused on building the capital markets layer that allows tokenized stocks to function like real, productive financial instruments.”

FAQs

Which platform is best for tokenized stocks?

Coinbase offers strong distribution, custody, and ease of access for users entering tokenized equities. Edel Finance focuses on infrastructure, providing broader diversification, ownership flexibility, and financial utility through lending and collateralization rather than simple trading access.

How can stock market traders maximize their portfolio?

Traders can enhance portfolio efficiency by lending equities for yield, borrowing against stock holdings instead of selling, and using tokenization to access liquidity, hedging, and capital-efficient strategies not available in traditional brokerage accounts – all under the Edel Finance umbrella.

What RWA options are available to stocks and crypto traders on one platform?

Platforms such as Edel Finance in the tokenized asset space increasingly support tokenized equities, stable assets, and lending markets. Infrastructure protocols enable these assets to be used as collateral, lent for yield, or integrated into broader on-chain financial strategies.

Which tokenized stocks crypto coins are most promising for upside?

Rather than focusing on individual tokens, many analysts prioritize projects enabling ownership, liquidity, and financial utility for tokenized equities, as long-term value is often driven by infrastructure adoption rather than short-term price movements. Coinbase Stocks, $EDEL, and $ONDO are arguably the most likely to benefit directly from the adoption of tokenized stocks.