> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://spreads-finance.gitbook.io/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://spreads-finance.gitbook.io/docs/spreads-connecting-a-usd100t-industry-to-defi.md). # Spreads: Connecting a $100T industry to DeFi The global stock market is worth over **$100 trillion**. Yet for millions of people around the world, accessing it remains slow, expensive, and gate-kept by intermediaries and brokers, and limited within market hours, brokerage restrictions, geographic barriers, and custody risks keep most of the world locked out of the greatest wealth-building engine ever created Apart from that, even if you have access to purchase stocks, your assets are not capital efficent and cannot be used easily to finance, get a loan, or earn against them, which limit the utilization to price speculation only **Spreads is here to change that** Spreads is a decentralized trading venue for onchain equities built on [Ink Chain](https://inkonchain.com) that brings stocks and innovative ETFs making them tradable by anyone, anywhere, without permission, while utilizing them in DeFi