Two of the world’s most powerful exchange operators — Nasdaq and ICE — partnered with major crypto exchanges to create and trade tokenized versions of traditional stocks on blockchains. Nasdaq is developing a framework that would allow publicly listed companies to issue blockchain-based versions of their shares while preserving traditional ownership rights and governance. To distribute those tokenized stocks globally, the exchange is working with Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken. The offering could go live as soon as the first half of 2027.
ICE revealed a strategic investment in crypto exchange OKX at a $25 billion valuation. That deal includes plans to launch new tokenized stocks and crypto futures, allowing the exchange operator to tap into OKX’s 120 million user base. The “everything exchange” The flurry of deals points to a bigger transformation in how markets might function in the future. For decades, stocks, bonds and funds traded on separate systems with limited trading hours.
Blockchain technology promises a unified, always-on marketplace — one that in the industry believe could eventually host the settlement of all financial assets in the forms of tokens. Antoine Scalia, founder and CEO of crypto accounting and compliance platform Cryptio, said the developments point to a broader shift toward what he calls the “everything exchange” – a marketplace where all asset classes trade on the same infrastructure. “That’s a realization that eventually all assets will settle on blockchain rails,” he said. This shift is being accelerated by a January SEC Staff Statement that tokenized securities carry the same legal weight as their “paper” counterparts.
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