Throughout 2025, Superstate pioneered a new standard for tokenized, canonical public-company shares with our Opening Bell platform. For partner issuers, their shares can now move seamlessly between traditional markets and tokens on Ethereum and Solana. By bridging real-world equities onto modern blockchains, Opening Bell provides the foundation for onchain secondary markets, DeFi integrations, and entirely new forms of utility for public securities.

But public markets exist to do more than facilitate trading — their primary purpose is to help companies raise capital. Today, we’re excited to share how primary capital formation will evolve through tokenization: Direct Issuance Programs.

A Direct Issuance Program allows a public company to issue new tokenized shares directly to eligible investors, with purchases executed using real-time market prices, and settled in stablecoins. Powered by Superstate’s transfer-agent infrastructure, issuers can raise capital in a flexible, cost-efficient format while helping to establish a broader market for tokenized securities.

For the first time, SEC-registered public companies can conduct compliant, global investor offerings on Ethereum and Solana. Direct Issuance Programs are now available for public companies to implement, with the first issuer offerings expected to go live in 2026.

Why Primary Issuance Needs Better Rails

When public companies raise follow-on equity capital, they typically engage a broker-dealer to sell stock on their behalf through an At-the-Market (ATM) or secondary offering. Alternatively, they can sell shares directly to investors through their transfer agent; however, the archaic technology and limited flexibility of direct stock purchase plans have made them impractical.

Both approaches are rooted in expensive, inefficient workflows built for an analog share-ownership system that hasn’t evolved in decades. At Superstate, we’re proud to reimagine capital formation from the ground up through tokenization.

How Issuers Conduct a Direct Issuance Program

Companies customize their Direct Issuance Program offering and file standard registration statements with the SEC. Superstate’s infrastructure enables the issuer to receive stablecoins directly into their own wallet from KYC-verified investors, then issues tokenized shares instantly to the investor’s wallet and updates the company’s shareholder registry in real time.

Companies can issue additional shares of an existing registered security using the same CUSIP, voting rights, and economic terms investors access through traditional brokerages. Or, they can file a new registration to secure funding for a different share class or security onchain.

The platform supports issuance on both Solana and Ethereum, allowing companies to reach investors across major blockchain ecosystems, which boast close to $200B in stablecoins as of December 2025.

Because Direct Issuance Programs operate through onchain smart contracts, both the issuance contract and the tokenized shares delivered to investors are natively composable with the broader onchain ecosystem enabling integrations as compliant custody, settlement, and portfolio tools continue to evolve.

Who Benefits

Issuers

Companies can reach new investors globally and lower financing costs since underwriting and distribution fees are dramatically reduced, allowing companies to retain more of the proceeds from their raise. Companies also gain control: they can define parameters for when and how to issue shares, and they receive funds instantly as stablecoins, which can be used or invested without waiting for cash to settle.

After the company files with the SEC, the issuer manages their Direct Issuance Program through the Superstate Portal without requiring a large roadshow or extensive administrative effort.

Investors

Eligible retail and institutional investors can purchase newly issued shares directly from the company at or below the Nasdaq or NYSE price, with tokenized shares settling immediately in their wallets. These shares are recorded in the investor’s name and carry the same economic and governance rights as traditional shares, with the added utility of being usable across onchain applications where permitted.

These offerings create a level playing field: a $100 billion sovereign wealth fund and a $10,000 retail investor can connect their wallets and access the same offering on the same terms. No intermediaries dictating allocations, no preferential access – just direct, transparent participation.

Modernizing Capital Formation for Public Companies

Primary issuance today depends on expensive intermediaries and outdated systems. By conducting their Direct Issuance Program onchain, issuers can reach new investors, reduce costs, and raise capital quicker through modern rails.

Opening Bell provides the compliant transfer-agent infrastructure that makes this possible: connecting issuers and investors through onchain settlement, tokenized shares, and global access. With this foundation, public companies can access a modern environment for capital formation that operates alongside today’s traditional markets.

Source: Superstate