Nasdaq Tells SEC: “Tokenize Stocks Now!”

Nasdaq has drawn a line in the sand. The exchange is urging the SEC to take the next leap in financial innovation: tokenized stocks.

Six years ago, the idea of Wall Street securities living on a blockchain sounded more like science fiction than market strategy. But today, the impossible has become inevitable. Skeptics are turning into advocates, and the conversation has shifted from if to when.

Back in 2019, Nasdaq introduced the public to tokenisation with a simple analogy. Johan Toll, then the Head of Digital Assets, explained it through the example of diamonds. Each stone is unique, he said—so imagine assigning a digital certificate to one, recording it on a blockchain, and letting that certificate trade instantly between owners.

That was tokenisation in its infancy. Toll expected the technology to start small—insurance claims automated by smart contracts, airline miles exchanged like cash, grain shipments tracked with digital receipts. Capital markets, he believed, would be the last frontier due to regulatory hurdles.

But history flipped the script.

Instead of loyalty points and cargo, tokenization marched straight into bonds, treasuries, and now equities.

Nasdaq Pushes the Dow Into the Digital Era

This week, Nasdaq asked the SEC to approve tokenized stocks—genuine shares that exist both on its exchange and mirrored on a blockchain.

If approved, the impact will be transformative: faster settlement, round-the-clock access, global participation, and programmable features baked directly into shares.

And while this push may sound abrupt, it has been years in the making.

BlackRock, Fidelity, and WisdomTree are already building tokenization platforms. Stablecoins proved the pipes could handle trillions. Government bonds and treasuries are flowing on-chain.

Now the next domino is clear: equities.

The First Stock to Step On-Chain

Galaxy Digital, the firm led by Mike Novogratz, has already blazed the trail. With support from Superstate, it placed its own shares (GLXY) on the Solana blockchain.

And this isn’t a synthetic product or a derivative. It’s the real deal—the same stock recognized by regulators, seamlessly mirrored on-chain.

Owning the token equals owning the share.

• Dividends can be distributed instantly through stablecoins.
• Shareholder votes can be cast with a click instead of mailing forms.
• Settlement happens in seconds, not two days.

Down the road, these stocks could even trade on decentralized exchanges alongside Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital assets.

How to Play the Tokenization Shift

The real bet isn’t on trading tokenized GLXY shares after midnight—it’s on the infrastructure itself.

If equities, treasuries, and funds all transition onto blockchains, then the rails carrying them—Ethereum with its institutional reputation and Solana with its unmatched speed—become the foundation of global finance.

Stablecoins already thrive on these platforms. Tokenized government securities are moving fast.

Stocks are next.

For investors, watching the growth of the Solana and Ethereum ecosystems offers the most direct way to capture this shift.

And when Nasdaq tells the SEC, “Tokenize stocks now,” it isn’t making a suggestion. It’s signaling where the future of markets is heading.

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