Securitize on Thursday launched Securitize Stocks, a tokenized U.S. equities product for eligible investors in the United States, the European Union and other permitted jurisdictions. The company said each token is backed one-for-one by a real share held for the investor.
First lineup includes 12 U.S. stocks
The first batch covers 12 stocks, including Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Tesla, Circle, Strategy and Palantir.
Trading will open on Solana through Securitize’s registered broker-dealer. Trades will settle in USDC, while Jump Trading will make markets through PropAMM, an automated market maker operated by a professional liquidity provider.
Trading will start in extended hours, and Securitize said it plans to move the product to 24/7 trading.
The tokens are also expected to list on the New York Stock Exchange’s planned 24/7 digital venue and on the OKXICE Tokenized Securities Venue. Neither venue has launched, and both still require regulatory approval.
Built under a brokerage-style legal framework
Securitize said the product differs from many existing stock tokens because of its legal structure. Each token is a security entitlement under Article 8 of the Uniform Commercial Code, the same framework used for shares held at a brokerage.
Holders receive dividends and, where the underlying share class includes them, voting rights. Securitize also said the underlying shares will not be lent out.
Token holders can convert their positions into shares recorded directly on a company’s register once that company adopts issuer-sponsored tokenization.
“Tokenized stocks should give investors more than a price on a wrapper that tracks a stock and is only offered offshore,” said Carlos Domingo, Securitize’s chairman and CEO.
Ripple Prime, Aave founder and RQD* named among supporters
Several firms are tied to the launch. Ripple Prime plans to support the tokens and explore adding them to its institutional trading business. Aave founder Stani Kulechov pointed to future lending and collateral use cases. Clearing firm RQD* said it is supporting the clearing, custody and settlement functions.
Securitize’s disclosures state that holders are not registered shareholders unless they convert their tokens, and that the underlying companies have not sponsored or endorsed the tokens.
Launch follows recent SEC innovation exemption
The rollout comes three weeks after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission granted a five-year innovation exemption for onchain trading of fully backed stock tokens. Synthetic stock tokens are outside that exemption.
OKXICE, the joint venture between OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the NYSE, published its plan for a 24/7 venue on Oct. 4.
Securitize manages about $5 billion in assets and listed its own shares on the NYSE in July. In March, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with the NYSE to help build the exchange’s tokenized platform.