Five major financial services companies have launched the Issuer Sponsored Token Coalition to establish industry-wide standards for blockchain-based stock tokens. The coalition includes Bullish, Equiniti, Alpaca, Apex Fintech Solutions, and DriveWealth.
The initiative, spearheaded by Bullish and Equiniti, aims to create technical frameworks for securities tokenization addressing settlement processes, custody arrangements, and transfers between conventional financial systems and distributed ledger networks.
Preserving Shareholder Rights
Central to the coalition's mission is issuer-sponsored tokenization, a model that ensures digital tokens remain connected to a corporation's official shareholder registry. This approach maintains investor privileges including voting authority, dividend payments, and participation in corporate governance.
The distinction addresses concerns about alternative or tokenized instruments that provide stock price exposure without granting authentic ownership rights and legal standing as officially registered shareholders.
Regulatory Framework
The coalition's formation follows the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's September 17 introduction of an Innovation Exemption, which permits controlled blockchain-based trading of securities listed on U.S. exchanges. The exemption requires platforms to verify that tokenized equity instruments preserve identical rights as conventional shares and remains valid for five years.
Coalition Priorities and Activities
The coalition has identified four priority areas: protecting shareholder rights, enabling interoperability across traditional and blockchain platforms, developing adoption infrastructure, and fostering an open marketplace ecosystem.
Planned activities include evaluating blockchain architectures and smart contract designs, analyzing regulatory compliance requirements, and developing initial proof-of-concept systems.
Coalition participants are scheduled to engage with corporate issuers and capital markets executives on October 27 at the New York Stock Exchange.
Merger and Openness
In May 2026, Bullish announced its agreement to acquire Equiniti in a transaction valued at $4.2 billion, with the merger projected to finalize in January 2027 pending regulatory clearance.
Coalition membership does not obligate participating firms to enter commercial agreements or endorse particular products. The coalition remains open to additional market participants who wish to join.
