NYSE and Blockchain.com to explore selling tokenised stocks

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Blockchain.com have entered into a memorandum of understanding to provide Blockchain.com users with access to tokenized US-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) through NYSE's planned digital trading platform, as financial institutions worldwide rush to create new trading options. The proposed arrangement requires regulatory approval and would extend NYSE's tokenized securities offering to Blockchain.com's global customer base.

In addition to distributing tokenized US equities and ETFs, the partnership also involves exchanging market data. NYSE's affiliate, ICE Data Services, will distribute Blockchain.com's crypto market data and analytics to its clients while Blockchain.com will include certain ICE and NYSE market data feeds on its platform. The NYSE's tokenized Alternative Trading System (ATS) is seen by some as primarily catering to retail trade flow, as it will offer 24/7 trading and request-for-quote functionality.

This shift could potentially allow for instant settlement and impact retail-heavy stocks or episodic news events, similar to tokenized oil perpetual futures during the start of the Iran conflict. According to Tanay Ved, a senior research associate at Talos, crypto venues are evolving into multi-asset platforms, and traditional assets are adopting the 24/7, programmable structure pioneered by cryptocurrency.

Various exchanges, such as Kraken, Binance, Coinbase, and Robinhood, have already ventured into tokenized equity models, although each approach involves trade-offs between ownership and accessibility.