Ondo Finance launches in-kind stock token conversion

Ondo Finance launched an in-kind conversion service on September 21 that allows approved institutions to mint and redeem Ondo Stocks tokens using underlying shares rather than cash, operating on Ethereum and BNB Chain through Alpaca's Instant Tokenization Network. Under the new mechanism, an approved institution transfers shares from its Alpaca brokerage account to Ondo's Alpaca account through an internal book transfer, after which Ondo issues the corresponding tokenized position on a supported blockchain. The process works in reverse as well, allowing institutions to redeem tokens and receive the underlying shares back into their Alpaca accounts. Previously, institutions using Ondo's cash-funded route had to provide separate capital to mint tokenized stocks even if they already held the matching securities. Access is limited to institutions that receive individual, case-by-case approval from Alpaca, and participants must maintain active accounts with both Ondo and Alpaca. The service does not change terms for ordinary Ondo Stocks holders, which remain available only to eligible non-U.S. persons.