Key Highlights
- NYSE and Securitize have signed an MOU naming Securitize as the first digital transfer agent eligible to mint blockchain-native securities for corporate or ETF issuers.
- These securities will be issued on the NYSE’s upcoming Digital Trading Platform, which will support 24/7 trading, instant on-chain settlement, and stablecoin-based funding.
- Securitize Markets, the company’s SEC-registered broker-dealer subsidiary, is expected to become one of the broker-dealer participants on the Digital Trading Platform.
In a move that signals the “onchaining” of the world’s most significant capital market, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has officially partnered with Securitize to develop a 24/7 tokenized securities platform. This collaboration, announced by parent company Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), represents a fundamental shift from the “Faster Payments” era toward a future defined by liquidity intelligence.
For over 200 years, the NYSE has operated within the constraints of human-centric business hours. However, as digital assets and global markets become increasingly 24/7, the friction of “market closes” and multi-day settlement cycles (T+1) has become a bottleneck for institutional efficiency. The new platform seeks to solve this by merging the NYSE’s high-speed Pillar matching engine with blockchain-based post-trade systems.
Under the MoU announced on March 24, Securitize becomes the first digital transfer agent eligible to mint blockchain-native securities for corporate or ETF issuers on the NYSE’s upcoming Digital Trading Platform. The collaboration also designates Securitize as a “premier design partner” in developing the digital transfer agent program intended to support on-chain settlement of tokenized security transactions.
“The NYSE continues to lead the industry in responsible innovation,” said Lynn Martin, President of NYSE Group. “As we explore how tokenization can enhance capital markets, it is critical that new infrastructure is developed in a way that preserves the trust, transparency, and protections investors expect. Securitize brings deep experience in digital asset infrastructure and transfer agency, making them a strong partner in helping design this next generation of market structure.”
Defining the rulebook for onchain securities
The significance of this MOU extends well beyond a standard vendor partnership. NYSE and Securitize will collaborate on developing standards for digital transfer agents and tokenization agents participating in the digital ecosystem, with a specific focus on establishing the regulatory, operational, and technology requirements for institutional-grade tokenized securities infrastructure.
In traditional markets, transfer agents maintain official records of who owns a company’s securities, process corporate actions like dividend payments, and manage shareholder communications. Translating those functions to a blockchain-based environment requires a new set of standards that don’t yet exist at scale. The NYSE-Securitize collaboration is, in effect, writing that rulebook.
The initiative draws on Securitize’s experience as both a leading tokenization platform and an SEC-registered transfer agent. Securitize will help define how transfer agent infrastructure maintains official records of ownership, supports corporate actions, and ensures tokenized securities meet the standards of traditional markets. Subject to applicable requirements, this work is expected to support Securitize’s role as an approved digital transfer agent for the platform.
“Securitize has spent years building the regulated infrastructure needed to bring real-world assets on-chain,” said Carlos Domingo, Co-Founder and CEO of Securitize. “We are proud to support NYSE in helping design the foundational transfer agent infrastructure for tokenized securities markets. This is about building tokenization in a way that works within real market structure, with the protections, controls, and operational integrity required for public securities.”
Securitize markets joins as broker-dealer participant
The MOU also extends Securitize’s role beyond issuance infrastructure. Securitize Markets, the company’s SEC-registered broker-dealer and alternative trading system (ATS) operator, is expected to become one of the broker-dealer participants on the upcoming Digital Trading Platform. This gives Securitize a dual role across both the minting and trading layers of the NYSE’s tokenized ecosystem—a vertically integrated position that no other firm currently holds in this context.
The Digital Trading Platform, first announced by NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) on January 19, 2026, is designed to enable 24/7 trading of U.S.-listed equities and ETFs, instant on-chain settlement, fractional share purchases through dollar-denominated orders, and stablecoin-based funding. The platform’s design combines NYSE’s Pillar matching engine with blockchain-based post-trade systems, with the capability to support multiple chains for settlement and custody.
ICE is also working with banks, including BNY and Citi, to support tokenized deposits across its clearinghouses, enabling clearing members to transfer and manage funds outside traditional banking hours, meet margin obligations, and accommodate cross-jurisdictional funding requirements. The platform’s launch is targeted for late 2026, pending Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and FINRA approvals.
First Nasdaq, now NYSE: A one-week transformation
The NYSE-Securitize MoU arrives less than a week after the SEC approved a rule change allowing Nasdaq to trade securities in tokenized form — arguably the most significant regulatory milestone for blockchain-based equity infrastructure to date.
The SEC’s approval, published on March 18 under Release No. 34-105047, greenlights a proposal that Nasdaq originally filed in September 2025. Under the approved framework, eligible Nasdaq market participants can choose to settle trades in Russell 1000 stocks, as well as ETFs tracking the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, as tokenized securities rather than through traditional methods.
The broader tokenization race
The NYSE-Securitize MOU arrives in a competitive environment where multiple traditional exchanges and financial institutions are racing to build tokenized infrastructure. At the 2026 ETHDenver conference, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioner Hester Peirce detailed an “innovation exemption” framework acting as a regulated sandbox for RWA tokenization. The SEC and CFTC signed their own MOU establishing “Project Crypto” as a joint initiative for coordinated digital asset oversight.
Securitize itself is in the process of going public through a SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners II, valued at $1.25 billion pre-money, with the deal expected to close in the first half of 2026. The company will trade on Nasdaq under ticker SECZ. Its existing shareholders are rolling 100% of their interests into the combined entity.
The tokenized securities market itself is expanding rapidly. Onchain value of tokenized assets has surged over 310% in the past 12 months, and Boston Consulting Group and Ripple have estimated the market could reach $18.9 trillion by 2033. With the NYS—the world’s largest equities exchange—now formally selecting Securitize as the first firm to build its transfer agent infrastructure, the path from pilot to production for tokenized public securities has never been shorter.
The question is no longer whether tokenized securities will trade on major exchanges. It is how quickly the regulatory, operational, and technology standards can be developed to make it happen at scale. The NYSE-Securitize MoU is the most concrete step yet toward answering that question.
