Real-world assets (RWAs) are gaining traction in crypto. The ability to tokenize physical or financial instruments on-chain unlocks new efficiencies, liquidity, and transparency. Now, the Hedera Foundation has partnered with Swarm to bring tokenized stocks like Apple, Tesla, and MicroStrategy onto the Hedera Network. This collaboration builds on Hedera’s high-throughput, low-fee architecture and introduces real-time on-chain equity trading using EU-compliant frameworks. It represents a step forward for regulated financial products in decentralized finance.
$HBAR JUST CHANGED THE GAME.
— Merlijn The Trader (@MerlijnTrader) August 18, 2025
Tokenized equities like Apple, Tesla, MicroStrategy are live on @hedera through @SwarmMarkets.
Fully compliant. Backed 1:1. Accessible to retail & institutions.
The breakthrough:
Instant redemptions via a pool that connects straight to TradFi.
No… pic.twitter.com/dmRVEuRXRQ
The Partnership: What Hedera and Swarm Aim to Achieve
The Hedera Foundation announced its collaboration with Swarm on August 15, 2025. Swarm is a regulated tokenization platform based in the European Union. It offers financial products tied to real-world stocks, bonds, and other securities. Under this new integration, Hedera becomes the latest blockchain to support Swarm’s suite of tokenized assets. Tokenized stocks launched on Hedera are fully backed by traditional shares. These shares are held in licensed custody and follow the EU’s Prospectus Regulation standards.
Each token represents a 1:1 claim on a share of stock. Swarm provides insolvency protection and compliance mechanisms to safeguard users. These equities are DeFi-compatible, which means they can be used in lending protocols, structured finance tools, or decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) treasury strategies. Importantly, the collaboration excludes U.S. and OFAC-sanctioned users, focusing instead on compliant global market participants.
Redemption Pools: Enabling Instant On-Chain Liquidity
Tokenized stocks often face challenges with liquidity and settlement speed. Swarm addresses this by offering a feature called a redemption pool. This smart contract-based mechanism allows users to redeem their tokens for stablecoins in real time. When a user sells a token during traditional market hours, the contract triggers an order in legacy markets. Once the asset is sold, Swarm returns fiat value to the user via stablecoins like USDC or EUROC. The process bypasses the typical two-day settlement delay in traditional finance. Instead of relying on on-chain liquidity pools, the redemption pool directly taps into the liquidity of traditional markets.
This model also removes the need for centralized exchanges or custodians to act as middlemen for redemptions. Users can execute transactions on-chain with lower fees and faster confirmations. It also reduces slippage risk during volatile market periods. According to Swarm, this solution supports scalability and user experience in tokenized RWA systems.
4/🔑 Automation: unlimited liquidity from TradFi
— Swarm (@SwarmMarkets) August 18, 2025
Thanks to Swarm’s automated infrastructure, a smart contract on Hedera can trigger a buy/sell order in TradFi markets during market hours and delivers stablecoins back on-chain.@hedera users can effectively leverage virtually…
EU Compliance: A Framework for Regulated Digital Equities
Swarm’s tokenized stock model is one of the few operating under approved EU regulatory frameworks. The tokens offered on Hedera are issued under the EU’s Prospectus Regulation, which allows for the public offering of securities in the European Economic Area (EEA). These tokens are legally recognized and provide investor protections such as disclosures, transparency, and auditability.
By aligning with this regulation, the Hedera-Swarm integration ensures that tokenized equities are not only technically sound but also legally compliant. Investors can interact with these products in a way that satisfies European securities law. This is essential for expanding tokenization beyond retail speculation and into institutional finance.
Hedera’s RWA Ecosystem: Strategic Fit and Technical Advantages
Hedera offers key benefits for RWA issuers like Swarm. The Hedera Token Service (HTS) allows direct native token issuance without needing complex smart contracts. Transactions on Hedera cost less than $0.001 and finalize in under five seconds. The network can handle over 10,000 transactions per second with ABFT-grade security.
These features provide an ideal environment for tokenized assets that demand speed, stability, and regulatory compliance. Additionally, Hedera’s growing RWA ecosystem includes platforms like Zoniqx, StegX, and the Asset Tokenization Studio toolkit. These integrations allow Hedera to offer both infrastructure and application layers for institutional-grade asset tokenization.
For instance, Zoniqx’s TPaaS model supports full lifecycle compliance for tokenized real estate and green energy assets. StegX focuses on institutional real estate tokenization, while Asset Tokenization Studio enables on-chain management of equity and debt instruments. Swarm’s equities now add another layer—regulated financial products usable in composable DeFi environments.
Market Outlook: Hedera and the Future of Tokenized Equities
The market for tokenized real-world assets is expanding quickly. According to a 2025 report from 21.co, over $26 billion worth of RWAs are now on-chain. Tokenized government bonds, money market funds, and equities are becoming popular among asset managers and fintech platforms. BlackRock, JPMorgan, and Franklin Templeton have all launched blockchain-native financial products.
Swarm’s integration with Hedera provides users with access to tokenized shares of some of the world’s largest companies. These include Apple, Tesla, and MicroStrategy—firms known for retail and institutional interest alike. As demand for real-world utility in crypto rises, having compliant and usable equity tokens on a fast and secure network gives Hedera an edge.
Hedera also recently joined the ERC‑3643 Association, which supports standardized token issuance for regulated environments. This signals a long-term commitment to compliance-first tokenization that can scale globally. With the addition of tokenized equities, Hedera’s position in the RWA space becomes more mature and diversified.
Expanding Access to Regulated On-Chain Assets
The Hedera Foundation’s partnership with Swarm represents a strategic move into tokenized traditional finance. Users on the Hedera Network can now access equities backed 1:1 by real-world shares under EU legal frameworks. These assets are redeemable on-chain, usable across DeFi protocols, and integrated with legacy financial infrastructure. Together with Hedera’s expanding tokenization toolkit and partner ecosystem, this development underscores the network’s growing relevance in the regulated blockchain economy.
As global financial institutions continue exploring tokenized asset strategies, Hedera’s performance, compliance tools, and strategic partnerships position it well for the next wave of blockchain adoption.
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