Chainlink Launches 24/5 US Equities Data Streams: Is This The Future for Tokenized Stock?

Ben Graham · 5 horas atrás

For centuries, the traditional financial world and the blockchain ecosystem have long operated on two different clocks. It has been less than 20 years since Bitcoin launched. Since then, better versions, including Ethereum and Solana, are live, enabling smart contracts.

Smart contracts are core tokenization. And in tokenization, Jerry Allaire of Circe said, it is now possible to swap “value”, not just data. Widespread tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs), especially stocks and bonds, will be a game-changer in 2026.

This shift makes sense, especially in a world that operates 24/7. While the $80T U.S. stock market closes on weekends and at 4:00 PM ET, the world of decentralized finance (DeFi) never sleeps. Chainlink, the operator of DeFi’s largest middleware, is at the forefront of making sure tokenized stocks are a reality in the coming months. Meanwhile, LINK, the token priming the Chainlink ecosystem, is trading above $12, slipping outside the top-20.

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Chainlink Is Ending The “Blind Spot” With Equities Data Streams

Yesterday, on January 20, Chainlink officially bridged the TradFi-DeFi temporal divide by launching its 24/5 US Equities Data Streams. This move doesn’t just provide better data; it lays the industrial-grade “plumbing” necessary for the mass tokenization of global stocks.

Johann Eid unpacks why TradFi's evolution makes tokenized equities inevitable.

US stock market foreign ownership went from 8% to 18% in two decades.

"Stock markets are meant for a global audience, not local. You want equities trading 24/7." pic.twitter.com/SviOZB0Ze6

— The Rollup (@therollupco) January 20, 2026

The 24/5 Streams introduce a “pull-based” architecture and a specialized RWA schema. Accessible data includes full market depth, comprising bids, asks, and volume, not just the middle price. It will also offer real-time flags to help protocols adjust risk logic. To ensure every data point is tamper-proof, it is signed by a decentralized oracle network, ensuring tamper-resistance.

Among the first adopters are Lighter, the perpetual DEX anchored on Ethereum, and BitMEX, one of the first perpetual centralized exchanges. By using the new data stream as its primary oracle, Chainlink said Lighter is “unlocking new low-latency markets that go beyond standard trading hours.”

Before this launch, on-chain protocols tracking US equities faced a dangerous “blind spot.” During pre-market, post-market, and overnight sessions, stock prices continue to move in the “off-hours” of traditional exchanges. Without real-time data, DeFi platforms were forced to use stale prices, leaving them vulnerable to “toxic flow,” in which savvy traders exploit price lags to drain protocol liquidity.

Through this stream, Chainlink will now provide sub-second updates across all sessions, including the pre-market and after-hours.

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The NYSE and Coinbase Connection: Tokenized Stocks Inevitable?

The launch’s timing is surgical. Earlier this week, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), owned by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), announced its plan to build a platform for 24/7 trading and on-chain settlement of tokenized securities. Chainlink isn’t just a bystander in this shift; they are an active partner.

Through a strategic collaboration with ICE, Chainlink consumes data from the ICE Consolidated Feed, which covers over 300 global exchanges, and delivers it to over 40 blockchains. Essentially, Chainlink is taking the “truth” from the NYSE and making it readable for smart contracts.

As this happens, Coinbase, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, has been pivoting toward its “Everything Exchange” vision. CEO Brian Armstrong has argued that tokenized stocks will follow the path of stablecoins: starting as a niche crypto product before becoming the global standard for 24/7 liquidity and instant settlement. This view is already the consensus among institutional players like BNY, Citi, and Robinhood. The CEO of Robinhood said tokenization will address the liquidity challenge.

Technically, tokenization offers benefits that legacy systems simply cannot match: For instance, settlement is instant, and costs are low. Moreover, there is collateral efficiency, as tokenized shares can be used as collateral on a DeFi protocol at any time of day.

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