Backed Finance
Swiss tokenized-securities stack issuing blockchain-based tracker certificates (xStocks/bTokens) that mirror stocks and ETFs—built for DeFi composability and protocol integrations, not retail brokerage or direct share ownership.
Platform Overview
Tokenized securities issuance and infrastructure stack: Backed Finance AG (tokenization/technology) plus an issuer SPV (Backed Assets) that issues tracker certificates (xStocks/bTokens) as blockchain tokens designed to be freely transferable and integrated into DeFi across multiple EVM networks—focused on composability rather than traditional brokerage-style equity ownership.
The product is not a brokerage account—holders generally do not own shares directly and should not assume brokerage-level protections. The value proposition is composability: tokens can be transferred and integrated into DeFi where supported (collateral, liquidity, treasury management), enabling workflows that traditional brokerage rails cannot support. The diligence burden is correspondingly higher: investors should treat each product as a structured product governed by its specific legal terms, service providers, restrictions, and redemption mechanics.
Platform Model
Tokenized Securities Issuer + DeFi Infrastructure
Primary Function
Blockchain-Native Tracker Certificate Issuance
Target Users
DeFi Protocols, Crypto-Native Funds, Non-U.S. Users (where permitted)
Regulatory Posture
Swiss-led stack + issuer/SPV framework with product documentation & restrictions
🔄How It Works
- Backed Assets issues tracker certificates linked to specific underlyings; tokens trade on-chain and can be used where protocols integrate them.
- Primary distribution is not marketed as a retail brokerage flow; issuer materials emphasize restrictions and product access through licensed entities/venues.
- On-chain price discovery can diverge from indicative value under stress; liquidity depth and venue selection matter for execution.
- The system is designed to make traditional exposures ‘portable’ into DeFi, enabling collateralization and composability that broker-held securities can’t easily match.
Key Gaps & Non-Disclosures
- Fees and product expense mechanics are not presented as a simple, standardized schedule across the suite.
- Redemption details can be product-specific and may not be obvious to secondary-market buyers.
- Corporate-action and dividend handling should be verified in the product’s legal terms rather than assumed.
- Failure-mode protections (segregation, bankruptcy remoteness) require product-doc review, not marketing inference.
Investment Structures
Tokenized Equity Trackers (xStocks / bTokens)
Blockchain tokens representing tracker certificates linked to individual equities (economic exposure rather than direct share ownership). Designed for on-chain transfer and DeFi composability (e.g., collateralization, liquidity provisioning) where integrated by protocols/venues. Investors should verify product terms for dividend/corporate-action handling and understand that brokerage-style rights/protections typically do not apply.
Tokenized ETF Trackers (Treasury & Bond Exposure)
Tracker certificates linked to ETFs, including short-duration U.S. Treasury exposure (e.g., bIB01 tracks the iShares $ Treasury Bond 0-1yr UCITS ETF). These products are often positioned as on-chain ‘cash management’ building blocks for protocols and funds seeking lower-volatility collateral or treasury assets, subject to the product’s legal terms and liquidity conditions.
Institutional Tokenization Services
Tokenization-as-a-service and ecosystem integrations for institutions/protocols. Marketed as infrastructure for issuing and distributing tokenized financial products and enabling multi-chain deployment with oracle/reserve tooling where applicable. Pricing and implementation terms are typically not published as a standard schedule and may require direct engagement.
Risk Structure
Legal Structure & Holder Rights
Backed products should be underwritten as structured products / tracker certificates governed by product-specific legal terms. In many cases, holders do not own the underlying security directly; rights and remedies (including any security interests, security agent roles, or collateral arrangements) depend on the specific product documentation. Investors should avoid assuming broker-style protections or direct shareholder rights.
Custody, Segregation, and Counterparty Layers
Even where 1:1 backing is attested, holders still face layered counterparties: issuer/SPV, custody/broker/service providers, and any oracle/attestation stack. Some products disclose service providers (e.g., security agent/custody/broker in product KIDs), but segregation terms, insurance coverage, and bankruptcy-remoteness mechanics require careful reading of the legal documents—marketing summaries are not sufficient.
Smart Contract & Key Management Risk
Tokens live on-chain and inherit crypto operational risks: wallet compromise, signing mistakes, malicious approvals, and smart-contract vulnerabilities. Self-custody generally means no account recovery; lost private keys typically result in permanent loss. Multi-chain deployment expands operational complexity and attack surface.
Market Microstructure: Liquidity & NAV Deviation
DEX/venue pricing can deviate from indicative value during volatility or thin liquidity. Spreads/slippage may be meaningfully worse than traditional ETFs/stocks, and discounts/premiums can persist if arbitrage/redemption pathways are constrained, costly, or unclear to secondary-market participants.
Jurisdiction & Enforcement Complexity
Risk Summary
Governing law, issuer jurisdiction, and service-provider stack can create cross-border enforcement complexity for global token holders.
Why It Matters
If a dispute arises (redemption friction, corporate-action handling, custody failure), practical recourse may require action under unfamiliar legal regimes and may be uneconomic for smaller positions. This differs materially from domestic broker-dealer dispute channels and investor-protection frameworks.
Mitigation / Verification
Read the product’s legal documentation (base prospectus/final terms/KID where applicable). Identify governing law, dispute forum, and the exact claim structure. Size positions with the assumption that enforcement could be slow and costly.
Dividend & Corporate Action Uncertainty
Risk Summary
Dividend pass-through and corporate-action mechanics are not always obvious to secondary-market buyers and may differ from direct equity ownership outcomes.
Why It Matters
Total return for equities includes dividends and corporate actions. If pass-through is delayed, partial, fee-burdened, or mechanically different, token holders can experience tracking error and economically inferior exposure compared to holding shares directly.
Mitigation / Verification
Confirm dividend/corporate-action handling in the product terms (not marketing). Monitor token performance against a total-return benchmark (price + dividends) where available to detect leakage or structural differences.
Composability Adds Protocol Risk
Risk Summary
Using tokenized securities inside DeFi adds protocol-level and oracle risks on top of product/issuer risk.
Why It Matters
Collateral use can trigger liquidation cascades if token liquidity dries up or oracles lag; LP strategies add impermanent loss; protocol exploits can wipe positions independent of the underlying asset’s fundamentals.
Mitigation / Verification
Treat DeFi integrations as separate risk decisions. Review oracle design, liquidation parameters, and protocol audit history. Prefer conservative LTVs and avoid strategies that require constant liquidity in stressed markets.
U.S. Person Restriction Risk
Risk Summary
Backed states products are not offered/sold to U.S. persons and maintains restricted-country rules; secondary-market access does not eliminate the restriction.
Why It Matters
Violating offering restrictions can create forced offboarding, redemption refusal, or other enforcement actions by intermediaries, and may create regulatory/tax complications for the holder.
Mitigation / Verification
If you are a U.S. person, avoid. If you are non-U.S., keep documentary proof of status/residency if redemption or compliance checks arise. Do not rely on VPNs or informal workarounds.
Clarification & Verification Items
- Identify the exact issuer entity and the governing legal documents for the specific token you plan to hold (base prospectus/final terms/KID).
- Verify service providers (custody/broker/security agent) and understand segregation/bankruptcy-remoteness mechanics where disclosed.
- Confirm dividend and corporate-action handling for equity-linked products—do not assume share-equivalent outcomes.
- Understand redemption mechanics and practical liquidity options on your preferred chain/venue (fees, minimums, timelines).
- If using in DeFi, separately underwrite protocol/oracle/liquidation risk and size positions accordingly.
- Plan operational security (hardware wallet/multisig) and document key custody + estate transfer procedures.
Regulatory & Legal Posture
Security Status
Tokenized Structured Products / Tracker Certificates (jurisdiction- and product-specific)
Backed products are presented as tokenized financial products that provide economic exposure to traditional underlyings and are accompanied by product documentation and restrictions. They should be evaluated as structured products rather than utility tokens, and investors should treat the legal terms (prospectus/final terms/KID where applicable) as the source of truth for rights, restrictions, and risk factors. Backed states products are not registered in the U.S. and are not offered/sold to U.S. persons.
Disclosure Quality
Moderate. There is meaningful product documentation and restriction guidance, but key economic/operational details (fees, redemption parameters, corporate-action pass-through) are not uniformly disclosed in a standardized way across the suite and require product-by-product diligence.
Custody Model
Third-party service providers (custody/broker/security agent may be product-specific)
Some product documents identify specific service providers (e.g., security agent and custody/broker for certain products). However, investors should verify custody terms, segregation, and bankruptcy-remoteness provisions in the legal documents and avoid assuming U.S.-style broker-dealer protections.
Tax Treatment
Reporting
Typically none from issuer to secondary-market holders (jurisdiction-dependent)
Token holders should assume they are responsible for tracking cost basis and reporting taxable events arising from token purchases/sales/transfers and any DeFi usage. Secondary-market DEX/venue activity generally does not generate standardized tax forms from the issuer.
Income Character
Jurisdiction-dependent (often capital gains; potential income/dividend equivalents depending on product terms)
Tax treatment depends on local rules (securities vs. property classification, treatment of derivatives/structured products, and the nature of any distributions). If products include dividend-equivalent mechanics, those may be taxed differently than pure price appreciation. DeFi integrations (lending, LPing, farming) can create frequent taxable events and complex recordkeeping requirements.
This review is not tax advice. Investors should consult a tax professional familiar with crypto assets and structured products in their jurisdiction.
Special Considerations
- Bridging/cross-chain transfers may be treated differently across jurisdictions; maintain detailed transaction logs regardless.
- DeFi usage can create complex taxable events (interest, rewards, LP events, liquidations).
- Corporate actions reflected through token mechanics may have tax consequences depending on local rules.
- Recordkeeping burden is high: keep timestamps, venues, chain IDs, transaction hashes, and valuation snapshots for each transaction.
Account Suitability
Taxable
Most realistic account context. Expect full recordkeeping responsibility and jurisdiction-specific reporting.
Roth IRA
Often impractical or prohibited depending on custodian rules and local regulations; consult a specialist before attempting self-directed structures.
Traditional IRA
Often impractical for similar reasons; additional complexity around distributions and valuation.
HSA
Generally unsuitable due to custody/eligibility constraints and reporting complexity; consult a qualified professional.
Investor Fit
Institutional DeFi Protocols
Best fit for protocols and crypto-native institutions that want tokenized traditional exposures as on-chain building blocks (collateral, liquidity, treasury assets) and have the sophistication to underwrite product docs, oracle design, liquidity conditions, and operational security.
Crypto-Native Funds / Non-U.S. Sophisticated Investors
Potential fit if the goal is composability (e.g., using tokenized exposures inside DeFi) and the investor understands that this is not direct share ownership. Must be comfortable with smart-contract risk, market microstructure risk, and product-specific legal terms and restrictions.
Retail Users Seeking Simple Stock Exposure
Poor fit for those who primarily want the simplicity and protections of traditional broker-held stocks/ETFs. The operational burden (self-custody), DeFi risk surface, liquidity/NAV deviations, and documentation complexity are usually not worth it for straightforward equity exposure.
U.S. Persons (Any Status)
Backed states its products are not offered/sold to U.S. persons and are not marketed/solicited in the U.S. Even if secondary-market acquisition is technically possible, the restriction still matters and creates high compliance and downstream enforcement risk for the holder.
Key Tradeoffs
DeFi Composability vs. Brokerage Protections
You gain on-chain portability and DeFi utility (collateral/liquidity/programmability) but generally lose broker-dealer protections, familiar custody rights, and straightforward dispute resolution.
24/7 Markets vs. Execution Quality
Always-on trading can be useful, but liquidity fragmentation and DEX microstructure can produce worse spreads/slippage than traditional markets, especially in stress.
Transparency Tooling vs. Legal Certainty
On-chain attestations and dashboards can help visibility, but they do not replace legal protections around segregation, priority of claims, or enforcement rights.
Self-Custody Control vs. Operational Risk
Self-custody removes some intermediaries but shifts key-loss and security risk to the holder with limited/no recovery pathways.
Who This Is Not For
U.S. Persons
Backed states products are not offered/sold to U.S. persons and are not marketed/solicited in the U.S. Secondary-market access does not remove restriction or associated compliance risk.
Investors Seeking Direct Share Ownership & Voting Rights
These are structured products / tracker certificates, not brokerage-held shares. Do not assume voting rights, shareholder protections, or identical corporate-action treatment.
Investors Who Need Simple Tax Reporting
Expect substantial recordkeeping responsibility. DeFi usage can multiply taxable events and complexity; standardized forms may not be provided to secondary-market holders.
Users Uncomfortable With Self-Custody
Key management is a core requirement. Lost keys or compromised wallets can mean permanent loss, which is structurally different from traditional brokerage account recovery.
AltStreet Perspective
Verdict
Backed is best understood as tokenized-securities infrastructure for on-chain markets—not a better brokerage. Its edge is composability; its cost is complexity and a higher diligence/operational burden.
Positioning
Most compelling for protocols and crypto-native institutions that can actually use tokenized stocks/ETFs as primitives (collateral, treasury assets, liquidity). For traditional investors who simply want equity exposure, the product is usually inferior to direct broker-held ownership once you price in operational risk, liquidity/NAV deviation, and documentation complexity.
"Composable tokenized trackers for DeFi-native workflows—verify legal terms, understand custody/rights, and avoid if you need brokerage-style protections or are a U.S. person."
Next Steps
Start by identifying the exact product token you care about and read its legal documentation (base prospectus/final terms/KID where applicable).
Confirm you are not in a prohibited jurisdiction and that you are eligible under the issuer’s restrictions before taking exposure.
Verify service providers (custody/broker/security agent) and understand segregation and claim mechanics as described in the documents.
Understand redemption pathways (if any), including minimums, timelines, and fees—do not assume redemption is frictionless.
For equity-linked products, confirm dividend/corporate-action handling in writing (product terms) and compare performance vs total-return benchmarks over time.
Assess liquidity on your intended chain/venue before buying; small pools can create large slippage and persistent discounts/premiums.
If you plan to use tokens in DeFi, separately underwrite the protocol/oracle/liquidation risks and size positions conservatively.
Implement operational security (hardware wallet or multisig) and document key custody + an inheritance plan for meaningful holdings.
Maintain detailed tax records (transaction hashes, timestamps, valuations) and consult a crypto-savvy tax professional for your jurisdiction.
Related Resources
Explore Asset Class
Tokenized Real World AssetsSimilar Platform Reviews
- Securitize
US-registered infrastructure with U.S. regulatory perimeter and different investor-protection posture; Backed prioritizes on-chain composability with a non-U.S. distribution/restriction model.
- Ondo Finance
Ondo is best known for tokenized treasury products and credit-like RWAs; Backed focuses on tokenized tracker certificates spanning stocks and ETFs with multi-venue DeFi integrations.
🔍Review Evidence
Scrape Date
2026-01-05
Methodology
Platform dossier (Firecrawl) + issuer legal documentation review + Swiss DLT framework context
Scope
Public website materials + issuer legal documentation pages + selected product pages (e.g., bIB01) + ecosystem/integration pages and notices
Key Findings
- •Issuer materials emphasize tokens are not offered directly to the public and are offered through licensed entities; eligibility/restrictions apply.
- •Backed states tokens are not offered/sold/marketed to U.S. persons and maintains prohibited/restricted jurisdiction lists in legal documentation.
- •bIB01 is described as a tracker certificate issued as an ERC-20 token that tracks the iShares $ Treasury Bond 0-1yr UCITS ETF.
- •Some product documents identify service providers (e.g., security agent/custody/broker), but economic and failure-mode terms still require careful document review.
- •Swiss DLT framework enabling ledger-based securities became effective in February 2021, supporting modern tokenized-securities structures under Swiss law.
Primary Source Pages
- backed.fi
- backed.fi/tokenization
- backed.fi/ecosystem
- assets.backed.fi
- assets.backed.fi/legal-documentation
- assets.backed.fi/legal-documentation/issuer
- assets.backed.fi/products/bib01
Comparable Platforms
- Securitize
More traditional securities infrastructure model with a U.S. regulatory perimeter; Backed emphasizes on-chain composability and non-U.S. restrictions.
- Ondo Finance
Treasury-focused RWA products and protocol integrations vs Backed’s broader tracker-certificate suite spanning equities and ETFs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Backed Finance a stock brokerage?
No. Backed’s products are tokenized structured products / tracker certificates designed for on-chain transfer and DeFi integrations. They are not a brokerage account and typically do not provide direct share ownership rights or brokerage-style protections.
Can U.S. persons use Backed tokens?
Backed states its tokens are not offered or sold to U.S. persons and are not marketed or solicited in the United States. Even if secondary-market access exists, U.S. persons should avoid due to restriction and downstream compliance risk.
Do Backed equity tokens pay dividends and handle corporate actions like real shares?
You should not assume share-equivalent behavior. Dividend and corporate-action handling can be product-specific and must be verified in the legal documentation (prospectus/final terms/KID where applicable). If terms are unclear, treat it as a risk and expect potential tracking differences versus direct ownership.
What happens if I lose my private keys?
With self-custody, lost private keys generally mean permanent loss—there is typically no account recovery like in a brokerage. Use hardware wallets or institutional custody solutions, maintain backups, and plan for inheritance if the position is meaningful.
Why would someone use Backed instead of buying an ETF at a broker?
The primary reason is composability: tokenized exposures can be used inside on-chain workflows (collateral, liquidity, protocol treasury assets) where supported. If you only want simple equity/ETF exposure with familiar protections and reporting, a traditional broker is often the better fit.