The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:ICE) announced today its intent to offer tokenized securities. The plan by the “big board” to move into digital asset securities is emblematic of the realization that eventually all securities will be digital.
Tokenization, or digital securities, on the NYSE platform will offer 24/7 trading in traditional securities, newly issued tokens, and ETFs. It will also offer fractional share trading, a service that has become popular on more modern brokerages.
Settlement will be immediate.
The NYSE said that it would use its Pillar matching engine with a blockchain-based post-trade system, including the capability to support multiple chains for settlement and custody.
Parent company ICE [Intercontinental Exchange] said that it was working with banks, including BNY (NYSE: BK) and Citi (NYSE: C), to support tokenized deposits across ICE’s clearinghouses and to manage money outside of traditional banking hours, meet margin obligations, and accommodate funding requirements across different jurisdictions and time zones.
Lynn Martin, President, NYSE Group, said that for over two centuries, they have transformed markets and are now leading the securities industry in fully embracing on-chain solutions.
“Harnessing our expertise to reinvent market infrastructure is how we’ll meet and shape the demands of a digital future.”
Michael Blaugrund, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, ICE, stated that tokenized securities are a pivotal step in ICE’s strategy to operate on-chain market infrastructure for trading, settlement, custody, and capital formation.
As the NYSE goes, so will other traditional securities exchanges. New technology is expected to provide improved services for traders and investors as well as more efficient operations for the NYSE and its brethren.
Eventually, tokenization will be the norm, and the analog past will go the way of the ticker tape quotation.
The NYSE did not provide a launch date for the new platform.
