The New York Stock Exchange and crypto exchange Blockchain.com have signed a memorandum of understanding to debut tokenized stocks, according to a Wednesday statement.
If approved, Blockchain.com users would be able to trade tokenized U.S.-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds on NYSE's planned digital alternative trading system.
NYSE Group President Lynn Martin said in a statement: The future of capital markets belongs to institutions that unite the trust of traditional finance with the innovation and accessibility of digital assets.
Peter Smith, Blockchain.com's executive chairman and CEO, added that the connection would enable us to extend the opportunity to invest in these digital assets to tens of millions of Blockchain.com users around the world.
Broader Moves Into Tokenization
In January, the NYSE announced it was building a platform allowing traders to buy and sell tokenized versions of U.S.-listed equities and exchange-traded funds and settle those trades on the blockchain, 24/7.
The partnership reflects growing interest from traditional finance in tokenizing assets. BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have used blockchain infrastructure to tokenize money funds. Last month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved tokenized stocks trading.
The move also follows other recent developments in the crypto and finance sectors. NYSE's parent company, Intercontinental Exchange, invested in crypto exchange OKX earlier this year. Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, and fintech company SoFi Technologies announced a deal to route SoFi customers' crypto orders through Kraken's institutional trading platform and list SoFi's stablecoin on the exchange.
