Tokenized Stocks as Collateral Cut Capital Needs by Nearly Half, Bitget-Block Scholes Study Finds

HIGHLIGHTS Tokenized stock collateral cut required capital from $340K to $175K. Stock-backed portfolio liquidated at 21% drop versus 27% with USDT. Bitcoin–Nasdaq-100 correlation averaged +0.41 since 2022, peaking at +0.75. Crypto exchange Bitget and digital asset research firm Block Scholes published a report on October 7, 2026, testing what happens if tokenized stocks are allowed to act as security deposits for crypto trades. They ran a modeled $1 million portfolio and found that using tokenized stocks as collateral reduced the capital a trader had to put up from about $340,000 to about $175,000, which is roughly a 50% drop.

However, the same report also revealed that the setup made it easier for the portfolio to get wiped out when the markets fall together.
How the Modeled Portfolio Worked
The modeled portfolio held $175,000 of tokenized AI and semiconductor stocks, in addition to BTC and ETH perpetual positions, and a short position on a Nasdaq-100 ETF perpetual.

Two scenarios were then created.

In scenario 1, there were separate accounts. Stocks sat in one place while crypto trades had to get their margins from elsewhere. The total money involved was about $340,000.

In scenario 2, Bitget’s Cross-Asset Unified Account was assessed. These tokenized stocks still gave stock exposure. However, they were counted as the safety deposit for the crypto trades.

That meant traders no longer needed a separate USDT margin. That resulted in the total money put up being about $175,000.

Essentially, this meant that in Bitget’s cross-asset account, the same $175,000 of stocks was doing two jobs at once.

According to Bitget, the account accepts upwards of 370 eligible assets as collateral, including 125 tokenized U.S. stocks.
The Trade-Off: Less Room Before Liquidation
The report also highlighted the downside of this setup, which was revealed after Block Scholes ran a stress test, simulating a crash in which crypto and stocks fall together.

When tokenized stocks were used as collateral, the portfolio was liquidated after about a 21% market-wide drop.

But if the same amount of USDT was used as collateral, the portfolio survived up to about a 27% drop.

The reason is USDT kept its value during a crash, making it reliable as a safety deposit. When tokenized stocks fall with the market, the safety deposit shrinks just when the trader needs it.

In simple terms, a stock-backed portfolio can take about 6 percentage points less of a fall before being wiped out.

According to Block Scholes, traders should not look only at how much their collateral is worth today. How much the collateral can fall should also be their focus, alongside knowing whether the collateral falls at the same time as their trades.
Why Crypto and Stocks Now Move Together
Since January 2022, the 60-day correlation between Bitcoin and the Nasdaq-100 ETF averaged +0.41 and hit a high of +0.75. According to the report, the correlation has stayed elevated since the middle of 2024.

+0.41 is a moderate link between crypto and stocks, but +0.75 represents a strong one, which suggests that Bitcoin is increasingly behaving like a tech stock.

The reason: both asset classes react to the same big forces. Interest rates impact both, inflation data moves prices of both assets, and then there is the risk appetite of investors. And when the Fed signals that it will be bringing a tighter policy, both tech stocks and crypto tend to fall.

That is the reason Block Scholes’ stress test matters. It indicates that investing in crypto and stocks does not necessarily mean diversification. It could instead mean doubling down on the same risk.
One Asset, Several Jobs
Bitget’s tokenized stocks, rStocks, have multiple jobs. Firstly, traders still own stock exposure, which means if the share prices rise, rStocks holders benefit. They also get eligible dividends from Bitget in the form of USDT.

Secondly, the collateral value that rStocks represent supports other positions in the account. Finally, the same collateral value can be pledged to borrow more stablecoins, as long as there is enough collateral.

While one asset doing three jobs is efficient, it also means that one price drop can hit the holdings, the loans, and the trades at the same time.
What Bitget Says
Gracy Chen, the CEO of Bitget, said, “Tokenization has moved beyond the question of access.”

She made the argument that putting assets onchain is only the first step. The real question is how efficiently the capital is used once it is onchain.

And since the tests do show the trade-off, the CEO also stated that risk controls on Bitget grow alongside the flexibility that tokenization brings.
The Bigger Race in Tokenized Stocks
The report made it clear that competition has moved on from simply bringing traditional assets onchain to integrating them into trading and capital management.

Other platforms have also started to get into tokenized stocks, leading to the asset class growing by 395% in one year, according to a RedStone report.

But as other platforms have started to compete on what tokenized stocks can do, focusing on Bitget’s own research matters. Using tokenized stocks as collateral can free up a large chunk of capital. But at the same time, it also increases the risks when crypto and stocks fall at the same time. Now that crypto and stocks are increasingly following the same path, how much traders lean on this approach will depend on how willing they are to free up capital in exchange for a thinner safety buffer.