Key Takeaways:
Securitize Inc., the BlackRock-backed tokenization platform, began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday and simultaneously issued $295 million of its own shares in token form on Solana and Avalanche, marking the largest issuer-sponsored tokenized stock launch to date.
"Public equities are moving onchain, and there is no stronger validation of that belief than tokenizing our own public stock on day one," Chief Executive Officer Carlos Domingo said in a statement.
The company's common stock, trading under the ticker SECZ, rose 10% in its debut session following a SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners II. The tokenized shares, available to eligible U.S. investors through Securitize's regulated platform after identity verification, represent the same class of common stock listed on the NYSE rather than a separate security, the firm said.
The launch comes as Wall Street accelerates its embrace of tokenization, with Citi projecting the tokenized securities market could reach $5.5 trillion by 2030 and Boston Consulting Group and Ripple estimating $18.9 trillion by 2033. Securitize, founded in 2017, has built tokenization infrastructure for BlackRock, Apollo, KKR, Hamilton Lane and VanEck. Earlier this year, NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange partnered with Securitize to develop infrastructure for tokenized equities, alongside transfer agents Computershare and Continental.
By putting its own stock onchain from day one, Securitize aims to distinguish issuer-sponsored tokenization from third-party wrapped stock products that have drawn regulatory scrutiny. "We just wanted to lead by example and show people that if you want to issue real shares onchain, not fake shares, not copy cats, whatever you want to call it, then you can do it," Domingo told CoinDesk. The move positions Solana and Avalanche as institutional-grade tokenization rails and could spur other publicly traded companies to issue their equity on blockchain networks.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
