In this article, youâll see what âproof of reservesâ really is, how it works for xStocks behind the scenes, and why itâs more important than any pitch deck, tweet, or banner about âfully backedâ assets. Weâll keep it practical: what PoR does and what it doesnât do.
What proof of reserves actually is
When someone says âthis token is backed 1:1,â you basically have two options:
- believe the claim, or
- ask to see the numbers
âšď¸ Proof of reserves (PoR) is the attempt to make âsee the numbersâ automatic:
- It links how many tokens exist on-chain
- with how many real-world assets sit in custody off-chain
- through independent checks and on-chain feeds
Instead of a PDF once a year, you get a machine-readable signal that smart contracts and users can inspect any time.
For xStocks, that matters because each unit is positioned as:
- a token on TON
- tied to a regulated product at the issuer
- fully backed by real underlying positions held with licensed custodians
PoR is the part that lets everyone verify whether that story holds up day-to-day.
How reserves work for xStocks in practice
Strip away the brand names and you get a simple stack:
- Underlying
Backed Finance creates a regulated product that follows a given traditional asset and is described as fully collateralized by that asset. - Custody
Real-world positions are held at licensed custodians in Switzerland, under local regulation. - On-chain representation
Backed mints bTokens â blockchain tokens on an origin chain that correspond to units of this product. STON.fi users ultimately see a wrapped version of those as xStock jettons on TON. - Reserve monitoring
Backed has integrated Chainlink Proof of Reserve so that collateral backing these tokens can be monitored automatically and exposed on-chain.
âšď¸ STON.fi doesnât run this reserve system and doesnât hold the underlying positions. It relies on the issuer, custodians, and PoR feeds â just like everyone else in the ecosystem â and focuses on routing non-custodial swaps into the resulting jettons on TON.
Chainlink PoR in this context
For xStocks, Chainlink Proof of Reserve is doing roughly three things:
- Collecting off-chain data
An audit firm and the issuer expose how many underlying assets are held and how many tokens are in circulation via an attestation API. - Bringing that data on-chain
Chainlink oracle nodes fetch this information and push it into PoR feeds on a public network. Those feeds show, in numbers, the state of reserves vs. issued tokens. - Making it usable in contracts
Smart contracts can read those feeds and wire them into logic â for example, allowing minting only when reserves are sufficient, or disabling integrations if collateral falls below a threshold.
The result is a live, auditable connection between âhow much is out there as tokensâ and âhow much is actually sitting with custodians.â
Proof of reserves vs âtrust us, itâs fully backedâ
On a slide, âfully backed 1:1â and âproof of reservesâ can look like the same phrase, still they arenât. Hereâs the actual difference:
| Aspect | Marketing claim | Proof of reserves setup |
| Evidence | A line in a blog post or FAQ | Data from custodians and internal ledgers, exposed via attestation and oracles |
| Frequency | Whenever the issuer feels like updating | Regular, often automated updates to on-chain feeds |
| Verifier | Same people who issue the token | Independent auditors + decentralized oracle network |
| Machine-readable | No | Yes, contracts can react without waiting for humans |
For xStocks, the important part is that backing is not just a slogan:
- Backed states that each token corresponds 1:1 to underlying assets at licensed custodians.
- Chainlink PoR and attestation layers give an external view into whether that remains true over time.
What proof of reserves does not guarantee
This is where people get burned: assuming PoR is a magic shield.
It isnât. Even the more critical write-ups from auditors and consultants repeat the same caveats:
- Itâs usually a snapshot, or near-real-time â not omniscience
PoR shows reserves at specific points. If something goes very wrong between updates, thereâs a window where feeds can lag reality. - It doesnât see hidden liabilities
PoR can tell you that assets exist. It canât automatically tell you about off-balance-sheet guarantees, side agreements, or legal claims that might eat into those reserves. - It doesnât audit every contract detail
PoR checks backing, not the entire business model. If the issuer has a bad risk framework elsewhere, PoR wonât fix it. - It doesnât replace regulation or judgment
Regulators are starting to treat PoR as one more verification layer, not as âfull compliance in a box.â
So the honest framing is:
PoR makes it harder to lie about reserves and easier to detect problems. It doesnât make the system risk-free.
Wrapping up
For xStocks on STON.fi, the story you ultimately care about is:
- Youâre getting exposure to traditional markets through a token on TON.
- Each unit is meant to be backed one-for-one by underlying assets in regulated custody.
- The issuer uses proof of reserves so that this can be checked, not just claimed.
- STON.fi plugs into that, but doesnât ask you to trust it as a hidden middleman â your assets live as jettons in your wallet, and PoR signals are visible to anyone.
Marketing can say anything. PoR is where that story either aligns with reality or starts to crack.
â ď¸ xStocks are not available to citizens or residents of the United States, any EU/EEA member state, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Belgium, or any other jurisdiction where access to tokenized securities or assets is restricted or prohibited.
