Securitize is launching the first compliant, onchain trading experience for natively tokenized public stocks in Q1 2026.
This is not a synthetic price tracker or an IOU against a custodian. These are real, regulated shares: issued onchain, recorded directly on the issuer’s cap table, and tradable through a familiar Web3 swap-style experience.
Introducing: Stocks on Securitize
Real Stocks. Real Ownership.
Trading onchain. For the first time ever. pic.twitter.com/ZpwL42usug
— Securitize (@Securitize) December 16, 2025
For investors, it feels like DeFi. Under the hood, it meets high standards of investor protection, market integrity, and regulatory compliance.
At Securitize, we are committed to working with DeFi builders and regulators to bring responsible onchain innovation to the public markets.
Real Stocks, Not Synthetic Exposure
For most investors, the stock market feels like a finished product. You open a brokerage account, place a trade, and you’re told you own a share of a public company.
Behind the scenes, however, sits infrastructure built decades before the internet; where investors rarely hold shares in their own name, settlement takes at least a day, and multiple intermediaries sit between investors and issuers.
In recent years, a first wave of “tokenized stocks” attempted to modernize this experience. But most of these products offer exposure, not ownership. They rely on derivatives, SPVs, or offshore structures that attempt to mirror stock prices, often introducing fragmentation, counterparty risk, and pricing inconsistencies. In some cases, they are not even compliant, since they issue bearer assets that, while representing securities, are issued as permissionless assets without any KYC or AML controls. Today, according to the popular website rwa.xyz, we have 4 different versions of “tokenized” Tesla, none of them being actually a token representing actual shares of Tesla and all of them being completely different instruments not fungible with each other.
These instruments do not place investors on the issuer’s cap table. They do not carry shareholder voting rights. They often rely on legal constructs outside the issuer’s jurisdiction – and misrepresent what they are, since they are not tokenized stocks but tokenized something else.
If tokenization is going to matter at public-market scale, it must deliver ownership, real securities and maintain investor protections.
What Makes Stocks on Securitize Different
Stocks on Securitize represent real public-company equity, compliantly issued and maintained onchain.
When you buy a stock on Securitize:
- You own regulated public-company equity
- You appear directly on the issuer’s cap table
- You receive full shareholder rights, including dividends and proxy voting
- Your shares exist as tokens under self-custody
- Assets cannot be lent or rehypothecated without your consent
- Tokens are transferable peer-to-peer across compliant, whitelisted wallets
This model works because Securitize acts as the SEC-registered transfer agent, with the blockchain serving as the authoritative record of ownership. The token itself is the legally recognized share.
Securitize first demonstrated this architecture in December 2024, when Exodus Movement, Inc. (NYSE: EXOD) became the first public company to issue its equity natively onchain. This proved that real public-company stock can live onchain without compromising investor protection or compliance.
This model requires issuer participation, which means the initial universe of stocks will be selective. But as issuers and investors experience the benefits of true onchain ownership, we expect this approach to expand rapidly.
From Issuance to Trading: The Missing Piece
Native issuance was a critical first step.
Native trading is the breakthrough.
Until now, natively tokenized public stocks largely remained static assets; issued onchain, held onchain, but traded, if at all, through traditional offchain processes.
This launch changes that.
For the first time, natively tokenized public stocks can be bought and sold fully onchain, in real time, through a Web3-native experience, while complying with the regulatory requirements that govern public-market trading.
Some in the industry believed this was not possible. We believed it was necessary.
By combining persistent regulatory engagement, purpose-built infrastructure, and an unwavering commitment to investor protection, we made it possible. And importantly, we don’t intend to keep this knowledge to ourselves. Our goal is to share how this works with the broader ecosystem, so tokenization can grow responsibly across the industry.
How It Works
Buying stocks on Securitize is designed to feel like Web3 because it is.
- Connect your wallet
- Complete Securitize ID once
- Buy stocks using stablecoins
- Execute an instant, atomic onchain swap
- Receive shares directly in your wallet
No clearing delays. No reconciliation risk. No ambiguity about ownership.
If you already own shares of a participating issuer, you can also convert them into onchain form via the Direct Registration System (DRS) and hold them directly in your wallet.
24×7 Trading, With Market Integrity
Tokenized stocks don’t sleep. You can buy or sell anytime—weekends, nights, holidays.
Trading is performed through our regulated broker-dealer entities. All transactions are executed through Securitize Markets, our SEC-registered Broker Dealer and ATS. For European investors, orders are processed through Securitize Europe Brokerage & Markets, our European investment firm which was also recently approved for a TSS (Trading Services System) license.
Although trading is available 24×7, how pricing works depends on whether U.S. markets are open or closed.
Securitize Markets supports this in two different ways depending on whether US markets are open or closed:
1. When the Stock Market Is Open
During regular trading hours, regulated tokenized stocks must follow SEC rules under Regulation NMS, including execution at the National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO). That means:
- You get direct access to the best publicly available price in the market.
- There’s no deviation from or synthetic representation of the official market price.
Because settlement happens instantly on-chain rather than through the traditional clearing and settlement framework, Securitize relies on appropriate regulatory exemptions that allow real-time blockchain settlement while still complying with NBBO and the broader NMS framework.
2. When the Market Is Closed
Outside traditional US market hours, Securitize Markets’ activity continues.
Our smart contracts use an automated market maker (AMM)-style pricing mechanism that adjusts price based on real trading activity in the tokenized asset. That means:
- Prices can move after hours if there’s demand.
- Liquidity is available around the clock.
- Investors have access to a unique 24×7 trading environment unavailable in traditional markets.
It’s a hybrid model: regulated, NBBO-aligned pricing when the public markets are open; decentralized, autonomous pricing when they’re not.
In addition, Securitize Markets adheres to FINRA’s best execution obligations that require a broker dealer to evaluate factors such as price improvement opportunities, speed and size as well as price when executing client orders.
The result is an optimal trade outcome and not just simply the prevailing market price.
Looking Ahead: Responsible Innovation at the Intersection of TradFi and DeFi
Tokenization is not just about faster settlement. The real unlock is programmability.
Once public equities exist as tokens, they can interact with smart contracts, liquidity protocols, and on-chain financial infrastructure, enabling new forms of collateralization, automation, transparency, and composability that simply aren’t possible today.
We’re already seeing what this looks like in practice. Through integrations with platforms like Aave Horizon and Loopscale, regulated, tokenized securities can interact safely with decentralized lending protocols, without compromising compliance or user protections.
As regulators consider frameworks like the SEC’s anticipated innovation exemption, we believe the industry has an opportunity to strike the right balance.
Innovation should be encouraged. Developers should be free to build new technologies and write open, immutable smart contracts without being regulated simply for publishing software. At the same time, securities are not bearer assets, and investor protection and market integrity must remain foundational.
We agree with recent remarks from SEC Chair Paul Atkins that distinguish truly decentralized protocols from centralized entities operating onchain. In our view, the future is about bringing TradFi and DeFi together responsibly, allowing each to strengthen the other.
That future requires collaboration: between regulators, issuers, developers, and platforms. It requires thoughtful design, not shortcuts.
Stocks on Securitize represent that approach in practice.
The Real Promise of Tokenized Public Equity
This is not about replacing traditional finance. It’s about upgrading it. With real ownership, real compliance, and real onchain utility, tokenized stocks can finally deliver on what this industry has promised for years:
A more open, programmable, and globally accessible financial system, built without sacrificing trust.
Source: Securitize
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Citadel Securities told the SEC that trading tokenized equities should remain under existing market rules, a position that drew responses from various crypto industry groups. @ShannyBasar for @MarketsMedia:
SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda argued that private assets belong in retirement plans, saying diversified alts can improve risk-adjusted returns and that the answer to optimal exposure “is not zero.” @ShannyBasar reporting for @MarketsMedia:
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