SEC Greenlights Nasdaq's Blockchain Stock Trading Plan

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has officially approved Nasdaq's groundbreaking proposal to allow certain securities to trade in tokenized form, marking a pivotal step toward merging blockchain technology with America's traditional equity markets.

Nasdaq's tokenization initiative is built around a pilot program led by the Depository Trust Company (DTC), which will oversee the clearing and settlement of all tokenized trades. The exchange first sought regulatory approval in September, and Wednesday's green light signals growing institutional confidence in blockchain-based financial infrastructure.

Under the newly approved framework, eligible Nasdaq participants can opt to settle trades using blockchain-based tokens instead of conventional book-entry systems. Crucially, tokenized shares will trade side by side with traditional shares on the same order book and at identical prices. They carry the same investor rights, use the same ticker symbols and CUSIP identifiers, and remain subject to existing market regulations — ensuring a seamless experience for both issuers and investors.

The SEC confirmed the structure satisfies established investor protection standards, emphasizing that market surveillance, data reporting obligations, and settlement timelines remain fully intact under the new model.

This decision reflects the rapid growth of real-world asset tokenization across global financial markets. By converting traditional instruments like stocks, bonds, and funds into digital tokens tied to underlying assets, the process enables near-instant transactions and around-the-clock trading — advantages that traditional systems simply cannot match.

Major U.S. exchanges are racing to capitalize on this momentum. Nasdaq recently announced a broader framework for publicly listed companies to issue blockchain-based shares and has partnered with crypto exchange Kraken to distribute tokenized stocks internationally. Intercontinental Exchange, parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, has also entered the space through a strategic investment in crypto exchange OKX, with plans to launch tokenized stocks and crypto futures products.

The tokenization of equities is no longer a distant concept — it is actively reshaping how markets operate.