Securitize, a digital securities ecosystem has fired up its alternative trading system (ATS) to enable the trading of security tokens. Securitize Markets is designed to provide investors access to invest in and trade a broad range of alternative assets, including private company equity, real estate, and funds.
Securitize states that settlement is virtually instantaneous. Currently, there are 9 securities available for trading.
Carlos Domingo, Securitize Founder and CEO, said “Securitize Markets is the final critical component in creating the world’s largest, fully digital, end-to-end, regulatory-compliant solution for raising and trading private capital.”
Securitize believe that private markets are very important for this future noting that most of a company’s value is generated long before an IPO, with IPOs increasingly recognized as exit opportunities for founders and early investors. Securitize states that approximately 80% of IPOs actually lose value.
Scott Harrigan, CEO of Securitize Markets, adds that they allow businesses to raise capital directly from their customers and then potentially trade those securities providing liquidity.
“The focus on IPOs is misplaced. Today, wealth is generated by investing in early-stage companies, not mature ones. But most investors have been frozen out of these opportunities, until now. Securitize Markets is intended to give many more investors access to alternative investment opportunities, with an aim at increasing the liquidity of the private markets overall,” adds Domingo. “Securitize Markets is the final critical component in creating the world’s largest, fully digital, end-to-end, regulatory compliant solution for raising and trading private capital. I am very proud of our team, which developed this vital platform in just eight months.”
Securitize Markets was built following Securitize’s November 2020 acquisition of Distributed Technology Markets, with principal development complete by May 2021, and testing and regulatory approvals complete by August 2021.
Securitize reports over 200 businesses and approximately 400,000 investors connected, and nearly $500 million in current-value digital asset securities issued on the Securitize platform.