TL;DR

• Chainlink has launched 24/5 U.S. Equities Streams, bringing reliable onchain data for stocks and ETFs

• The move lowers friction for decentralized protocols building equity-linked products

• DEXs like Lighter and ApeX and CEXs like BitMEX are already integrating the solution

• The rollout comes as tokenized real-world assets gain traction, with RWAs projected to reach $30 trillion by 2030

Real-world assets are steadily finding their way onchain. From tokenized treasuries to private credit, RWAs are increasingly being used to unlock global access, composability, and capital efficiency. Some projections estimate the RWA market could grow to $30 trillion by 2030, reflecting how quickly traditional finance is experimenting with blockchain rails.

Yet one massive asset class has largely remained on the sidelines: U.S. equities. Despite representing roughly $80 trillion in market value and sitting at the center of global finance, stocks and ETFs have been difficult to integrate onchain in a reliable way. The problem has not been demand. It has been infrastructure. Equities trade on fixed schedules, rely on centralized market data, and require precise price feeds to support derivatives, lending, and settlement. Without trustworthy, low-latency data that mirrors traditional markets, most onchain protocols have been forced to avoid equities altogether or offer limited, synthetic exposure.

Chainlink is now trying to close that gap. On Tuesday, the blockchain infrastructure provider announced the launch of Chainlink 24/5 U.S. Equities Streams, an extension of its existing Data Streams technology designed to deliver fast, secure market data for U.S. stocks and ETFs across all trading sessions, five days a week. In practical terms, this gives decentralized protocols the data foundation they need to build equity-linked products that behave much closer to traditional markets, while still running onchain.

What 24/5 Equities Streams Actually Enable

Chainlink’s new equities streams are built on the same Data Streams infrastructure already used across more than 40 blockchains through the Chainlink Data Standard. The key difference is focus. This update is specifically designed for U.S. equities and ETFs, covering not just regular trading hours but also after-hours and overnight sessions. That matters because onchain markets do not sleep. Decentralized exchanges, lending protocols, and derivatives platforms operate continuously. When equity data only updates during limited windows, it introduces risk, inefficiency, and awkward pauses. By offering 24/5 coverage, Chainlink aligns equities data more closely with blockchain-native expectations, even if it stops short of full weekend trading.

According to Chainlink, the goal is to make it easier for protocols to integrate onchain stocks and ETFs without building bespoke data pipelines or relying on fragile workarounds. For developers, this lowers complexity. For users, it reduces the chance of stale prices or sudden trading halts. Several platforms are already moving to integrate the new streams. Crypto-native derivatives exchange Lighter, which began listing 24/5 equity perpetuals earlier this month, is among the first adopters. BitMEX, a long-standing centralized derivatives platform, will also tap the solution, alongside ApeX, HelloTrade, Decibel, Monaco, Opinion Labs, and Orderly Network.

The mix of decentralized and centralized platforms is notable. It suggests that onchain data standards are increasingly being treated as shared infrastructure rather than tools limited to DeFi alone. This launch also highlights a broader shift in how equities exposure is being offered. Rather than waiting for fully tokenized stocks to dominate, many platforms are starting with equity derivatives, indexes, and synthetic products. Reliable price data is the first requirement for all of them.

A Crowded Race Toward Always-On Markets

Chainlink’s move lands in the middle of an increasingly competitive push to extend stock trading beyond traditional hours. Over the past year, both centralized and decentralized players have been racing to offer 24/5 or even 24/7 access to equities and commodities.

The New York Stock Exchange signaled this direction on Monday, announcing plans to build a new platform for tokenized securities trading that could eventually operate around the clock, including weekends. While still early, the move reflects growing pressure from crypto-native markets that never close. Other platforms have already taken concrete steps. Kraken began offering 24/5 access to a range of CME-based markets last year, including equities indexes, gold, and oil. BitMEX recently went further, launching a 24/7 Equity Perps offering that covers major names like Amazon, Apple, Circle, Coinbase, Meta, Nvidia, Robinhood, Tesla, and the S&P 500.

What Chainlink brings to this landscape is not a trading venue, but a shared data layer. Instead of each exchange solving market data independently, 24/5 U.S. Equities Streams offer a standardized feed that multiple platforms can rely on. That kind of coordination has historically been missing in onchain finance, where fragmented data sources often limit scale. There are still clear boundaries. Chainlink’s update does not make U.S. equities fully permissionless or remove regulatory constraints around stock trading. Settlement, custody, and compliance remain offchain in most cases. But by solving the data problem, it removes one of the biggest technical blockers to deeper integration.

Closing Thoughts 

The launch signals a steady convergence between traditional markets and blockchain infrastructure. Equities are not becoming “crypto” overnight, but they are being pulled closer to crypto’s operating model: continuous access, composable products, and shared rails.

For Chainlink, the announcement reinforces its position as a core bridge between onchain and offchain worlds. For the broader market, it suggests that bringing stocks onchain is no longer a distant idea. The building blocks are now being put in place, one data stream at a time.

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