Bullish has agreed to acquire transfer agent Equiniti for $4.2 billion, a move that shifts the tokenized equity conversation away from simple trading access and toward the infrastructure that maintains official shareholder records. Equiniti handles shareholder registries, stock trade administration, dividend distribution, and corporate actions for listed companies, work that sits deep in market plumbing but matters to how ownership is recognized.
From digital wrappers to shares recorded on company books
Speaking at the company’s earnings meeting, Bullish CEO Tom Farley said many products sold today as tokenized assets are effectively digital IOUs tied to traditional shares rather than stock entered directly into corporate ledgers. His argument was straightforward: owning a transfer agent creates a path for tokenized shares to be recorded in the books of the company itself, closing the gap between crypto market structures and regulated issuer records.
Farley said one of the biggest problems in investor relations is that companies often know very little about their own shareholders under current market infrastructure. In his view, tokenization could materially improve transparency and the flow of information. If tokenized shares can be tracked in real time, issuers could see who owns their stock and how long it has been held, while investors could gain access to trading outside standard market hours, including after-hours sessions and weekends.
Index providers face new calculation problems
As tokenization spreads, index providers and asset managers are being forced to think through how these instruments should be measured. Kristine Mierzwa, head of digital assets at FTSE Russell, said tokenized equities raise serious questions around market capitalization, liquidity, and index inclusion. Standard index construction relies on market value and free float, but those inputs become harder to interpret if the same company’s shares trade on a conventional exchange and also circulate as blockchain-based tokens.
Mierzwa added that large asset managers may hesitate to include tokenized shares in index calculations if they cannot independently custody the tokens. That position may not last long. Major financial institutions are already moving quickly on blockchain projects, and the field has become more crowded in recent months. BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Apollo have launched tokenized fund products, while Robinhood and Kraken have explored tokenized equities. Coinbase-backed efforts are also pushing for broader use of stablecoins and blockchains in real-time money settlement.
24/7 trading creates pricing gaps and liquidity splits
The appeal of tokenized assets is obvious: they can trade 24/7. The pricing issues are just as obvious. Mierzwa pointed to a case where Apple shares continue trading on blockchain rails over a weekend, leaving a possible gap between the blockchain price and the official Nasdaq opening price on Monday. That kind of divergence could complicate price discovery and force exchanges and index firms to build new methodologies.
There is another layer to the problem. If several token versions exist for the same stock, liquidity and pricing may fragment across multiple venues and structures. Some tokens may carry dividend rights; others may only offer price exposure. For index providers, that raises a basic but difficult question: which version should count as the reference instrument?
Because of regulatory and security concerns, traditional banks and large financial institutions are currently leaning toward closed, “walled garden” blockchain networks instead of connecting directly to public chains. The approach reflects a compromise between innovation and compliance requirements. Mierzwa expects much greater interoperability and integration between major financial institutions and crypto firms over the next two to three years.