The tokenization of traditional financial assets could change how investors buy everything from stocks to bonds. Cantor Fitzgerald says Securitize may be at the forefront of that shift.
Shares of Securitize rose 12% to $14.57, a record high. The digital asset securities firm's stock has risen 170% since hitting a 52-week low of $5.39 on Aug. 17, including its largest single-day increase of 24% on Monday.
Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage of Securitize with an Overweight rating on Monday, setting a $21.20 price target. That implied 63% upside from Tuesday's closing price of $13. Cantor and Securitize announced a partnership in July to help public companies issue tokenized securities.
Cantor's analysts wrote that while other crypto-linked firms have "paved roads," Securitize "built the interstate and owns the toll booths along it," suggesting the company has developed infrastructure spanning several parts of the tokenized-securities market.
"Tokenization is the largest overhaul financial infrastructure has seen over the past century, and Securitize is the public company covering most of that lifecycle, issuing, registering, custodying, distributing, and enabling trading of the asset under a single roof," analysts wrote.
The New York Stock Exchange is also exploring wider access to tokenized stocks. The exchange announced a partnership with Blockchain.com on Wednesday to explore giving users of the crypto platform access to trade digital, tokenized U.S. exchange-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds.
The partnership could expose stocks to millions of crypto traders through a planned NYSE trading platform, pending regulatory approval, the companies said.
Coinbase Global stock fell 0.7%, while Robinhood Markets rose 0.9%.
Securitize stock surged in the lead-up to the Securities and Exchange Commission making it easier to offer tokenized stocks to investors last week.
That followed regulators' approval of Nasdaq's proposal to allow the trading of some tokenized stocks and exchange-traded products in March. The NYSE's rule change allowing trading in tokenized versions of existing securities was approved shortly after.