Coinbase’s Layer-2 network Base has issued an open call to builders and projects working on tokenizing local stock markets, specifically targeting equities that are difficult to access from outside their home countries. The initiative extends the network’s ambitions well beyond the US equities it launched in August, aiming to create a global, composable layer for stock market access.
From US stocks to global equities
The new push builds on Base’s launch of tokenized US equities on August 24, 2026. That initial rollout brought shares of Nvidia, Apple, Meta, and Alphabet onchain, backed 1:1 by real shares custodied at Alpaca under Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) regulation. The tokens were issued natively on Base using the B20 standard, which enables 24/7 trading, dividend management, and full composability with DeFi protocols.
Approximately $4.5 million was minted on day one, and cumulative trading volume reached into the hundreds of millions shortly after. By early September 2026, the offering had expanded to include Amazon, Tesla, and Microsoft.
Base’s “Request for Builders” post targets projects working on neobrokerages, local-market integrations, and onramps for emerging markets. The specific ask is for teams that can tokenize equities from stock markets that are notoriously difficult for foreign investors to access.
Why emerging markets are the real target
In many emerging markets, buying US equities involves hefty transaction fees, currency conversion costs, and logistical barriers that price out the average investor. Base’s existing US equity tokens were designed to solve exactly that problem.
Base’s builder request specifically mentions the importance of local onramps and stablecoin integrations. The B20 standard restricts minting and redemption to authorized participants, creating a structure similar to how ETFs work in traditional finance. Market makers and authorized entities handle the creation and destruction of tokens, while retail users trade the resulting assets freely on secondary markets.
The regulatory guardrails
The existing tokenized US equities on Base are available only to eligible non-US persons, operating under Regulation S. American investors are explicitly excluded from participation.
The ADGM regulatory framework that governs the current US equity tokens provides one model. Abu Dhabi’s financial free zone has positioned itself as a crypto-friendly jurisdiction with clear rules for digital asset issuance, and it has become a popular domicile for projects that need regulatory legitimacy without the burden of navigating US securities law.
What this means for DeFi and traditional markets
Tokenized equities that live on Base can be used as collateral in lending protocols, traded in automated market makers, bundled into index products, or paired with stablecoins in liquidity pools. Base’s decision to crowdsource this effort through a builder program rather than attempting it internally reflects the coordination challenge of maintaining 1:1 backing and regulatory compliance across multiple jurisdictions.
