A tokenized stock is a token on a public blockchain that tracks one share of a listed company. The good ones are backed by real shares held in custody. The problem is that a token is just a name and an address, and anyone can create one with any name they like.
When we first checked, on August 10, 2026, a search for Apple's tokenized stock on Solana returned the genuine one and 18 copies. Nvidia and Tesla had 19 each. A ticker we invented, ZZZZ, already had 3. Every copy carried a plausible name and the right symbol. In a table, a counterfeit looks exactly like the real thing.
This week we rebuilt how the desk decides which tokens are real and which ones can actually be traded. One part of the first version was wrong, and we say where below.
Where the list comes from
The desk now keeps its own record of every tokenized stock it will consider, refreshed every night. It is built from the two issuers' own published lists, never from a search by name.
- xStocks, issued by Backed Assets (JE) Limited in Jersey, publishes 1,269 tokenized stocks and funds, all with an address on Solana.
- Backpack lists about 6,400 US stocks. 1,170 of them had a Solana address when we checked on October 4. The rest are listed with no token yet.
Sunrise, the third venue people asked us about, issues nothing. It is a front end that routes trades in Backpack's tokens, so it adds no list of its own.
Three tests before a token counts
A token has to pass all three, every night.
- The issuer lists it. The address has to appear on the issuer's own list. A token that only turns up in a search is ignored.
- The exchange has verified it. Jupiter, the largest trading aggregator on Solana, marks tokens it has checked. The address has to carry that mark, for that exact address.
- The issuer's keys control it. Every token on Solana records which accounts can create more of it and freeze it. We read those records directly from the chain and compare them with the issuer's keys. All 1,269 xStocks tokens share the same three keys, and xStocks publishes the main one on its own list of company wallets. All 1,170 Backpack tokens share one key. Backpack does not publish it, so we checked it against the two tokens named in independent coverage of Backpack's launches, and both carry it. If xStocks ever removes its key from that list, we stop trusting every xStocks token until someone looks.
On October 4, all 1,269 xStocks tokens passed. Of Backpack's 1,170, 72 passed. The rest had not been verified by the exchange.
Can you get out?
A real token can still be one you cannot sell. Our first check got this wrong.
It used the size of each token's trading pool and required at least $100,000. Saks flagged the filter as faulty, and it was, in both directions. Most trading in these tokens does not go through pools. It goes through market makers who quote a price when asked, and the pool figure leaves them out.
- Coca-Cola's token had a pool of about $72,600, so we called it not investable. A $10,000 round trip cost 0.82%.
- BlackRock's Backpack token had a pool of about $172,000, so we called it investable. A $10,000 round trip cost 2.10%.
- On the evening of October 4, Constellation Brands' token could be bought, and no one would quote to buy it back.
The test now is that round trip. At the moment we check, we ask the exchange what $10,000 buys, then what selling exactly that amount straight back would return. A token is investable only if the round trip costs 1.5% or less. If no one will quote the sale, it fails.
Here is what that looked like at 01:58 UTC on October 5, during the overnight session, when spreads are wide:
| Company | Round trip on $10,000 | Investable |
|---|---|---|
| Nvidia | 0.25% | Yes |
| Coca-Cola | 0.82% | Yes |
| JPMorgan Chase | 1.53% | No |
| BlackRock (Backpack) | 2.10% | No |
| Constellation Brands | 7.83% | No |
These costs move with the hour. JPMorgan may well pass during the US trading day. That is why every reading carries the time and the session it was taken in.
The broader picture is thin. On October 4, only 29 of the 1,269 xStocks tokens had even $10,000 in a trading pool. A tokenized version existing is not the same as a market existing.
What changes for readers
Every committee review now has a short section called Owning it onchain. It names each issuer's token, how it is structured, its address, whether it passed the three tests, and what a round trip cost when we wrote the piece. If no token qualifies, the section says so in one line. It never quotes a token's price, and the committee never sees it: it is added after the vote, so it cannot move one.
The desk also watches which tokenized stocks are gaining holders fastest each week. That goes on the list of places the desk looks for names to review, next to the members' forum and the day's headlines. Retail interest in a token is a reason to look at a company, never a reason on its own to review it.
What this does not do
It does not buy anything. BagsCapital manages no outside capital and holds no tokenized stocks. Our fund has a planning step that turns names the committee has backed into a costed list, and it stops there. Nothing can be carried out without Saks approving that exact plan, and an approval expires after two minutes.
xStocks says its tokens are not offered in the United States or to US persons. Sunrise blocks users in the United States and Canada from Backpack's tokens.
As of October 5, 2026, BagsCapital manages no outside capital and holds no position in any company or token named here. Nothing here is investment advice.