On September 8, 2025, Nasdaq submitted a rule change application to the SEC, planning to launch tokenized securities trading services. This move means that stocks of leading companies like Apple and Microsoft may be traded and settled in the form of blockchain tokens on Nasdaq in the future. Nasdaq President Tal Cohen stated in his LinkedIn post, "Combining tokenization technology, blockchain technology, and traditional market infrastructure provides an excellent development opportunity for the global financial system." This marks a shift where traditional financial giants no longer view blockchain technology as a threat but embrace it as a tool to enhance efficiency, transparency, and accessibility.

The core content of Nasdaq's application is to request a modification of rules, including adjustments to the definition of "securities," allowing stocks to be tokenized and traded in regulated venues. Nasdaq proposed that if tokenized securities are considered equivalent to the underlying securities and enjoy the same shareholder rights, their trading should be subject to the same execution and recording rules as the original securities.

According to the proposal, tokenized assets will have clear identification so that trading, clearing, and settlement parties (including the Depository Trust Company) can correctly execute relevant instructions. Nasdaq's strategic positioning is to build a bridge between the world of digital assets and traditional assets. Chuck Mack emphasized, "We are not looking to replace the existing system but to provide the market with another more efficient and transparent technological option."

The solution proposed by Nasdaq is essentially a fusion model aimed at fully utilizing existing market infrastructure. The trading itself still occurs within the market and follows current order execution and matching rules. Once a trade is completed, participants can choose to settle in traditional digital form or token form. When opting for the tokenized method, the backend work of settlement will be handled by the core clearing institution of the TradFi system—the Depository Trust Company (DTC), which is responsible for recording ownership as blockchain-based tokens.

Protection of shareholder rights is a key component of the proposal. Tokenized stocks must have rights that are completely consistent with the underlying securities, including the same CUSIP (Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures) and shareholder rights, such as dividends and voting rights.

Nasdaq's decision to submit the application at this time is not coincidental. On September 2, 2025, the SEC and CFTC issued a joint statement indicating that under current law, regulated exchanges are allowed to offer trading of certain crypto asset spot products. This joint statement is part of the SEC's "Project Crypto" and the CFTC's "Crypto Sprint," aimed at providing a clear path for compliant blockchain innovation and encouraging the development of fintech in the U.S. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins has explicitly stated that asset tokenization is a major priority for the SEC, and the regulatory body formed a working group earlier this year during a series of cryptocurrency roundtables to advance this matter. Atkins stated on May 12, "The migration to on-chain securities has the potential to reshape every aspect of the securities market by realizing entirely new methods of issuing, trading, owning, and using securities."

Proponents of tokenized securities believe that blockchain technology will bring significant efficiency improvements to traditional financial markets.

24/7 Trading: Tokenized securities can be traded 24/7, allowing investors to react instantly to news, freeing them from the conventional time constraints of traditional exchanges.

Higher Clearing and Settlement Efficiency: The clearing and settlement cycle can be significantly shortened from T+1 or even longer to T+0, approaching instant settlement, improving capital efficiency, and reducing counterparty risk.

Lower Barriers to Entry: Asset fragmentation allows retail investors to participate in high-value asset investments with lower amounts.

DeFi Composability: Tokenized securities can serve as collateral in the DeFi ecosystem, unlocking new scenarios for lending protocols.

Despite the promising outlook, tokenized securities face several challenges. For ordinary investors, mainstream online brokerage stock trading has generally implemented zero commissions, and the T+1 settlement cycle is already efficient enough for most retail investors. Tokenized stock trading carries irreversible risks, and its legal protections remain in a gray area. Smart contracts also have limitations and the potential for hacking.

Existing cases have shown that some tokenized stock prices have deviated significantly from the prices of the underlying securities. For example, the tokenized stock AMZNX, which tracks Amazon, surged to $891.58 on July 5, about four times the closing price of Amazon's previous trading day, raising concerns about market manipulation and insider trading.

Nasdaq has been exploring the blockchain field for nearly a decade. In 2015, it began using blockchain technology to develop the blockchain-based equity trading platform Linq and launched the blockchain processing platform ChainCore in collaboration with Citigroup. In 2018, Nasdaq adopted Azure blockchain technology to launch the Nasdaq Financial Framework system, providing blockchain services to over 100 market operators worldwide. In 2021, it launched the "Market Services Platform" to help clients issue tokenized assets.

Institutions such as BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and KKR have announced plans to tokenize part of their fund assets, but mostly operate through brokers as intermediaries. The true audience for Nasdaq's proposal may be more institutional clients. For traditional financial giants, faster clearing and settlement cycles mean higher capital efficiency and lower risk exposure. The underlying value of this proposal is likely more about optimizing the underlying infrastructure to serve its institutional clients, while the "efficiency revolution" aimed at retail investors is more of a marketing strategy.

One of the deeper motivations behind Nasdaq's proposal is to seize the initiative in the wave of tokenization and prevent the emergence of a tokenized ecosystem that is isolated from traditional markets and unregulated. Globally, Fosun announced in early September 2025 that it would tokenize part of the shares of Hong Kong-listed Sisram Medical (approximately $328 million) and deploy settlement and circulation on technologies/platforms such as Vaulta, Solana, Ethereum, and Sonic.

CMB International has tokenized dollar money market funds on-chain, choosing to collaborate with on-chain service providers like DigiFT and OnChain, and is conducting settlement pilot projects in the Solana ecosystem.

Nasdaq's application is just the beginning. The SEC's approval process may take up to a 90-day review period and will require a consultation period before implementation. If all goes smoothly, we may see the first batch of tokenized stocks listed and traded on Nasdaq in 2026. The future is here, and the century-old trading rules of Wall Street are facing off against the trustless technology of blockchain, brewing a profound transformation regarding efficiency, liquidity, and compliance. Regardless of the outcome, the digital revolution in financial markets has entered a new stage.

Related: Cboe plans to launch 10-year Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) futures in the U.S.

Original article: “Nasdaq's 'On-Chain' Revolution: The Self-Disruption of Traditional Exchanges and the Battle for the Trillion-Dollar Tokenization Market”

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