NASDAQ, the U.S. exchange where the tech sector’s biggest names list their stocks, is seeking to put stocks on the blockchain, asking the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday to bless its effort even as others in the securities world are sprinting toward the same tokenization goal.

If the SEC filing is approved, the exchange would let customers choose either the traditional route for trading equities or to do so on-chain with tokenized stocks — an option that would be treated with the same priority as the legacy method.

“The Exchange believes the markets can use tokenization while continuing to provide the benefits and protections of the national market system,” NASDAQ contended in its filing, suggesting that the tokenized assets should be traded “in regulated markets, namely national securities exchanges, alternative trading systems, and at [Financial Industry Regulatory Authority] regulated broker-dealers.”

The move by NASDAQ follows an effort by digital brokerage Robinhood to issue stock tokens for European customers in July, giving access to some 200 U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Bringing equities and other real-world assets onto blockchain rails has been among the most sizzling of the digital-asset

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Author: Jesse Hamilton