Ondo tokenizes SK Hynix shares on day one of record $26.5B debut

Ondo Global Markets tokenized SK Hynix shares on day one of the chipmaker's record $26.5 billion US IPO, the first on-chain listing of a major debut at launch.

Ondo Global Markets, the tokenization platform, said the listing enables investors to trade SK Hynix equity through blockchain-based tokens, bypassing traditional brokerage settlement cycles that typically take two days.

SK Hynix sold 177.9 million American depositary receipts at $149 each, raising $26.51 billion in the largest US share sale ever by a foreign company. The stock surged 17% to about $174.50 on its Nasdaq debut under the ticker SKHYV. Investors sought more than seven times the available shares, Reuters reported. The offering ranks as the third-largest US debut on record, trailing only Saudi Aramco's $29.4 billion listing in 2019 and SpaceX's $85.7 billion debut last month.

The tokenization of a newly listed blue-chip stock on its debut day challenges the traditional IPO settlement infrastructure. If adopted broadly, it could compress the standard T+2 settlement window and open global equity access to a wider pool of investors through decentralized platforms. Ondo's move also strengthens the real-world asset narrative within crypto, where tokenized securities have struggled to gain traction beyond niche institutional products. The ability to trade fractionalized shares of a trillion-dollar company on-chain on day one represents a step toward merging traditional capital markets with decentralized finance.

SK Hynix, South Korea's second-largest company with a $1 trillion market capitalization, dominates the high-bandwidth memory market with a 56% share, supplying chips critical for Nvidia's AI accelerators. The company plans to use the IPO proceeds to expand chipmaking facilities and purchase advanced equipment. Its stock has surged 222% in Seoul this year, pushing its market value from about $250 billion in December to above $1 trillion in May. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has pressed SK Hynix and Samsung to ramp up memory chip production in the US amid a global shortage, according to Bloomberg.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.