Tokenized securities have achieved a historic breakthrough in the US capital market: from a fundamental regulatory shift to substantial actions by leading institutions, and finally to the first proactive attempt by a public company, a completely new capital market landscape is rapidly taking shape.
This week, the integration of traditional finance and blockchain technology has significantly accelerated. SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins announced at the OECD meeting in Paris a departure from past aggressive enforcement positions, shifting toward supporting digital asset innovation and launching a comprehensive "crypto project" to modernize securities regulations. He explicitly stated that "most crypto tokens are not securities" and promised clear guidance for on-chain financing.
Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman publicly committed to introducing tokenization technology to core stock markets, rather than limiting it to over-the-counter trading. Meanwhile, BlackRock, the world's largest asset management company, is exploring converting ETFs into blockchain tokens, with its $2 billion tokenized money market fund BUIDL already demonstrating market demand. Most significantly, Galaxy Digital has become the first public company to actively tokenize its SEC-registered stock on blockchain.
Analysts believe these moves mark a critical turning point in Wall Street's infrastructure migration to blockchain, with advantages such as 24-hour trading, instant settlement, and global liquidity moving from concept to reality. As Goldman Sachs trader Mark Wilson noted:
Although significant regulatory work remains, the possibility of "US capital markets going on-chain" is becoming increasingly clear.
**SEC Policy Transformation: From "Enforcement-Style Regulation" to "Innovation Support"**
SEC Chairman Atkins' speech in Paris marked a fundamental shift in US digital asset regulation. He severely criticized previous policies that "weaponized investigations, subpoenas, and enforcement powers to suppress the crypto industry" and declared that "chapter belongs to history."
The new "crypto project" will advance based on a blueprint developed by the Presidential Digital Asset Market Working Group, with three core objectives:
First, providing certainty for crypto asset securities status, clarifying the regulatory boundary that "most crypto tokens are not securities"; Second, ensuring entrepreneurs can raise funds on-chain without legal risk concerns; Third, allowing "super app" trading platform innovation, providing trading, lending, staking and other services under a single regulatory framework.
Atkins predicted the imminent emergence of on-chain capital markets and "AI agent finance," where AI agents will execute trades and allocate capital at speeds exceeding human capability, with securities law compliance embedded in code. He emphasized the government's responsibility to "set common-sense guardrails while removing regulatory barriers that stifle innovation."
**Nasdaq Core Market Transformation: Tokenization Enters Main Battlefield**
Nasdaq is moving tokenization from peripheral experimentation to core business. CEO Friedman explicitly stated that stock tokenization will be implemented "in core markets," trading alongside traditional stocks in the same system, rather than being isolated in "off-exchange subsidiary markets."
Trading hours reform is advancing simultaneously, with Nasdaq already announcing movement toward a "24×5" model, with the ultimate goal of 7-day round-the-clock trading. Friedman cited Nasdaq 100 index futures already achieving 24-hour trading as an example, considering it "logical" for underlying stocks to achieve the same tradability.
In digital asset strategy, Nasdaq adopts a "regulation-first" stance, insisting on "investor protection priority." Friedman observed regulatory convergence trends in Washington, believing this creates opportunities for traditional financial institutions to participate. Once regulatory pathways are clear, Nasdaq will collaborate with institutional clients to introduce compliant crypto asset and tokenized securities services.
Addressing the current issue of overly complex IPO procedures causing companies to remain in private markets long-term, Nasdaq is promoting multiple reforms:
Simplified disclosure requirements: Eliminating redundant information, returning to core disclosure content Promoting innovative listing pathways: Actively promoting direct listings with financing capabilities, improving SPAC models Exploring tokenized IPOs: Drawing parallels between ICO concepts and "tokenized direct listings," incorporating them into compliant market frameworks
**BlackRock ETF Tokenization: Blockchain Transformation of Wall Street's Core Products**
On September 12, Bloomberg reported that BlackRock is studying tokenizing ETFs linked to real-world assets like stocks. This move could fundamentally change how one of Wall Street's most important investment products operates.
BlackRock already has successful precedents in digital assets. Its tokenized money market fund BUIDL launched in 2024 has grown to over $2 billion, and its spot Bitcoin ETF has achieved tremendous success.
ETF tokenization will bring three core transformations:
Extended trading hours: Breaking through Wall Street's conventional trading time limitations, achieving 24-hour trading; Globalized access: Making US financial products more accessible to overseas investors; New collateral applications: Creating new use cases as collateral in crypto networks.
Supporters believe blockchain migration can achieve instant settlement, share splitting and other functions, while ETF's flexible design makes it an ideal testing ground for this transformation.
CEO Larry Fink's statements further confirm BlackRock's determination: "Every financial asset can be tokenized," a view reiterated in his 2025 annual letter to investors.
However, this transformation faces significant technical and regulatory challenges. Currently, ETFs settle through Wall Street clearinghouses, while blockchain transactions are instant and round-the-clock, creating complex issues for regulators and custodians in coordinating these systems.
Nevertheless, the regulatory environment in the Trump era is becoming more accommodating, with policymakers expressing openness to allowing companies to test blockchain-based market projects in controlled environments.
**Galaxy Digital Pioneers: First Public Company to Actively Tokenize Stock**
Most significantly, Galaxy Digital Holdings has become the first US public company to directly tokenize its SEC-registered stock on blockchain. Through Superstate's Opening Bell platform, the company allows shareholders to tokenize their Class A common stock on the Solana network.
Galaxy's stock tokenization features the following characteristics:
24/7 trading potential: Enabling round-the-clock market trading Near-instant settlement: Dramatically improving trading efficiency Full compliance: Tokenized stock is legally equivalent to traditional equity Controlled access: Limited to KYC-verified investors, directly holdable and transferable in crypto wallets
Galaxy and Superstate are researching methods to enable tokenized stocks to trade through automated market makers (AMMs) while maintaining regulatory compliance. Stocks listed on Opening Bell, including Galaxy itself, may eventually circulate on AMMs and other decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms.
The company describes this move as "the first step in a capital markets revolution," aimed at "building faster, more efficient, more inclusive, and safer methods of value transfer, storage, and creation for the global economy."
**Goldman Sachs Trader: Capital Market Blockchain Trend Increasingly Clear**
Goldman Sachs trader Mark Wilson specifically focused on tokenized securities developments in this week's market review. He noted that Galaxy Digital's stock tokenization is a US first, stating "I'm quite sure this is also a global first."
Wilson believes the potential impact of this move on capital market structure "could be quite significant." Combined with Nasdaq's investment in Gemini and BlackRock's ETF tokenization intentions, he observed that "the possibility of blockchain-enabled capital markets is becoming increasingly clear."
Wilson concluded that despite "important regulatory work to be done," overall trends indicate the possibility of traditional financial infrastructure migrating to blockchain is increasingly strengthening.
Analysis indicates that this series of developments shows tokenized securities are moving from proof-of-concept to mainstream application, with active participation from Wall Street's core institutions laying the foundation for large-scale adoption of this technology.