Global Demand for U.S. Equities Grows as Finance Moves On-Chain

Remy: While the hierarchy of capital markets is shifting and the U.S. stock market continues to capture an increasingly dominant share of total global valuation, we are seeing a fundamental change in how the world invests. Non-U.S. participation in American equities is also hitting record levels, while international companies are bypassing local exchanges to list directly here in the U.S. Also, the underlying plumbing of finance is evolving. The move from traditional fiat systems to on-chain settlement is accelerating, driven by the rise of stablecoins and also the tokenization of everything from treasuries to private equity. Well, joining me live at the Ondo Summit this morning is Yoshi Yokokawa, who is co-founder and CEO of Alpaca, a brokerage infrastructure and self clearing broker dealer. Yoshi, great to have you here. Thank you so much for joining us.

Yoshi: Thank you for having me here.

Remy: Well, 2026 is well underway. And when we take a look at the global equity markets, why are we seeing so much demand for U.S. equities?

Yoshi: I think like a lot of international companies continue to go IPO in the U.S. markets. And then like you know U.S. companies also expanding the businesses globally. So like U.S. capital markets continue to bring more and more of the global businesses in general. I think like, you know, that's allowing
everyone in the planet to be looking at the U.S. markets more and more.

Remy: And you mentioned IPOs. There's a lot of anticipation for companies going public this year. But when we take a look at the regulatory landscape, not just in the U.S. but also overseas, how do you manage all of this in different jurisdictions?

Yoshi: I think for us, like we always partner with, local regulated broker dealers and financial institutions. So for our business, we always work with a very, extremely compliant manner, but, like our anchor regulatory framework is, of course, United States SEC. Federal DTCC.

Remy: So and I do want to ask you about tokenization. So we are focused on this as we kick off the Ondo Summit here in the US. But what trends are you watching and what are your expectations when it comes to the so-called tokenization of everything?

Yoshi: I think like when I think about the word of tokenization, I think about the whole financial system moving on chain from the fiat. And the tokenization is one of the methodologies that's actually happening. So if you look at the stablecoins, that's a part of that too. So I think it's just eventually it will get there. But we're going to see multiple iterations, multiple methodologies done by different parties.

Remy: And at a conference such as Ondo Summit, there are a lot of stakeholders from throughout the ecosystem. So what are you most excited about heading into today's event?

Yoshi: I think like especially this Ondo Summit, like they actually created this synergies between the Fiats and then like pure on chain players because I think in order to move the whole thing on chain and becoming the everything tokenization, we cannot have just talking only about on-chain system, we have to be talking about what's happening right now, which is primary fiat. So and then like how we move that to on-chain is the key. So we have to really talk to both of the parties and then thinking about how to move the whole thing from the fiat to on-chain together. And I think like in on the summit actually created and invited a lot of people from both, both the directions. And I think it's going to create a lot of interesting conversations as well.

Remy:Yeah. So for people watching right now who may not be as familiar to what's actually happening and what you actually mean by fiat.

Yoshi: So I think like how I see this like financial system has happening. So I look more back in like 1960s, 1970s financial system as an operation has been extremely manual. And then you know computer happened then it became actually digital. But now that digital becoming on-chain. So I think that's how I think about the world is moving. So when I say fiat is something that's only like digital financial operations and on-chain to be something that's happening on the blockchain, which creates less liquidity and settlement risk.

Remy: Yeah. And with 2026 well underway, when we look at all the other asset classes, whether we're talking about equities or commodities or even crypto. There's been so much volatility. But do you think when it comes to crypto, it will eventually lose its alternative label? And do you expect it to become a standard part of every brokerage account?

Yoshi: That's a super interesting question. I think about even crypto. The word actually becomes extremely diluted in the future because it will be just one of the asset classes, right? And when things move on-chain crypto is not going to become, oh, something exotic. It's a part of like, you know, regular asset classes like equities and fixed income. And even the word crypto may disappear because everything becomes on-chain, right? So that's what I'm really looking forward to seeing. And I think this Ondo Summit will show that, you know, part of the process.

Remy: Yeah. And when you're talking about this, how long do you think it will take in terms of the timeline? Is it 2026 or would you say it needs a few years before we get to that point?

Yoshi: I always like to talk about this. Like in maybe three, threemonths, three years or 30 years because movements like we're talking about, this whole $350 trillion of assets that's custody in the fiat to be moving fully on-chain. So it's going to take some time. But as we saw like last year and this year, we're going to see a lot of acceleration. So it's kind of hard to see exactly when. But it's going to definitely get there.

Remy: Yeah. And finally, Yoshi, before I let you go, you've been having conversations with many of the organizations here, whether we're talking TradFi, DeFi, or even all of the policy and regulatory side. So for viewers out there who are retail investors, what does all of this mean for them?

Yoshi: So it's actually moving to the right direction. It's all about better investor protection and the less systemic risk as a financial system. So I think that what we are thinking is into the better, more stable system for the better protection of the retail customers and the investors. So I think we're actually going into the right direction as a whole.

Remy: And finally, before I let you go for your organization. What can we watch out for as we head into the rest of this year?

Yoshi: A lot of things happening globally, and there are a lot of geopolitical situations happening outside the United States as well. So I always look at which of the regulations are playing what roles. Of course, like a lot of the countries are looking at what the U.S. will be doing, but there are different like directions of the things that may happen. So I always think about there's an idea of the whole one thing becomes the same thing, but at the same time we have to be practical that there could be like multiple networks with multiple layers of the things that would be happening. And we have to think about how to combine that together. So I think about, you know, both ideal and then what's happening at the practical manner and trying to think about what we should be doing. That's how I think about it the whole time.

Remy: Okay. Yoshi, it was a pleasure having you here. Thank you so much for joining me and enjoy the rest of the Ondo Summit.

Yoshi: Thank you very much.

Remy: Thank you very much