Nasdaq Gets SEC Approval for Tokenised Trading
Synopsis
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a rule change allowing Nasdaq to trade stocks and ETFs in their tokenised form, digital renditions of securities stored on a blockchain. The approval, announced Wednesday, applies to eligible securities ranging from Russell 1000 stocks to major S&P 500 ETFs. Tokenised shares will have the same rights, prices and ticker symbols as regular shares and will trade on the same order book. The rollout is a pilot programme conducted via the Depository Trust Company, and the first tokenised trades are set to go live by the end of Q3 2026.
Nasdaq’s proposal to allow stocks and ETFs to be traded as blockchain-based tokenised securities has been approved by the SEC. As for the first tokenised trades, these could go live by the end of Q3 2026.
Key Highlights
- On Wednesday, the SEC approved Nasdaq’s plan to trade securities in tokenised form.
- Tokenised shares have the same rights, price and ticker symbols as ordinary shares.
- The rollout is a pilot program conducted via the Depository Trust Company.
- The first tokenised trades could go live by late Q3 2026.
SEC Approves Nasdaq Plan to Put Stocks on the Blockchain
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has greenlit a rule change that allows Nasdaq to trade certain stocks and funds as tokenised securities, digital, blockchain-based versions of shares. It is the first time a major exchange has been formally approved to do so.
The SEC took seven months to review the proposal properly, beginning in September 2025. It made adjustments along the way to ensure that it followed federal security laws and investor predictions. This process was slow and cautious.
What Tokenised Securities Actually Are
A tokenised security is just a digital share or fund instead of being reflected in the traditional system, it is recorded on the blockchain. As a property exchange, treat it as the same stock that you already own, only issued and transferred differently.
With the updated rules, a range of eligible securities, particularly stocks in the Russell 1000 Index as well as ETFs tracking major indexes including the S&P 500, could be traded on Nasdaq as tokenised assets. Importantly, tokenised iterations will trade using the same order book as traditional shares, with the same execution priority and pricing, as well as equal treatment of market data. Investors in tokenised shares retain all their traditional rights, voting, dividends and everything else they could have with a non-tokenised share.
The Mechanism of the Pilot Programme
This isn’t a full launch, though. The rollout will function as a pilot program run through the Depository Trust Company, the organisation governing the clearing and settlement of securities. Market participants can settle trades in tokenised form, through a selection of an instruction when placing the order. Any trades that don’t qualify for tokenisation will continue to settle the traditional way they do today.
Nasdaq will provide at least 30 days’ notice before launching any tokenised instrument, and settlement will remain a T+1 affair, trades are finalised one business day after execution, just like it is now. Token-settled trades could be executed by the end of the third quarter of 2026.
Nasdaq Accelerating on Partnerships
This ruling comes as several partners are already ready to collaborate should the SEC grant approval. Earlier this month, Nasdaq partnered with cryptocurrency exchange Kraken to globalise the distribution of tokenised stocks. The partnership leverages Kraken’s xStocks platform to enable tokenised equities to cross through traditional markets and blockchain networks.
Nasdaq also said it was partnering with Boerse Stuttgart Group’s tokenised settlement platform, Seturion, to connect its European trading venues to a settlement infrastructure designed for tokenised securities. Elsewhere, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, Intercontinental Exchange, bet on crypto exchange OKX and promised to issue its own tokenised stocks and crypto futures. The race to dominate this space is already underway among the largest crypto запасы.
FAQs
- What did the SEC approve?
A rule change that would permit Nasdaq to trade certain stocks and E.T.F.s as tokenised securities, digital versions recorded on a blockchain.
- Do tokenised shares have the same rights as normal shares?
Yes, same voting rights, dividends, ticker symbols and prices, only settled differently.
- When will this actually start?
The first tokenised trades could be live by the end of Q3 2026.
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