Observers of how Wall Street is adopting digital assets and payment rails would likely agree that some of the slowest uptake has come from stock markets.
But even this traditional corner of the market is coming around. Tokenized equities, stocks that are traded, settled and recorded on blockchain, have emerged in the past year as a competitive new market pitting upstarts such as Ondo Finance and Securitize against TradFi behemoths like the New York Stock Exchange.
"The way we tend to think about markets is where the trends are moving, but then how can we play an important role in guiding those trends in a responsible manner?" said Lynn Martin, president of NYSE Group, a unit of Intercontinental Exchange. "That's definitely been the case when it comes to the topic of digitization."
The NYSE announced its new tokenized trading platform in January, yet declined to say when it will be open for business or which blockchain it will use. It is also still awaiting approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
And while tokenized equities might be a hot item, they don't hold a candle to the breadth and size of their once paper-based predecessors. Tokenized stocks were worth about $2.6 billion as of Sept. 1, 2026, according to
Martin is aware of this disparity and is mindful of ensuring the market doesn't move too fast in such a foundational asset class. "We think it's important to protect certain parts of the rules and infrastructure that have been honed over [200 years], that have withstood wars and pandemics and different financial shocks," she said. "But then also deliver the technology-driven innovation that is apparent to us through tokenization and the introduction of stablecoins into the ecosystem."
In that spirit, NYSE has received SEC approval to extend its traditional trading hours to 23 hours a day, five days a week, starting in early December. In terms of tokenized trading, it's playing catch-up, as digital assets can be bought and sold 24/7.
In 2025, NYSE listed seven of the 10 largest IPOs and led in large tech IPOs representing nearly 70% of proceeds raised during the year, including Klarna Group, Circle Internet Group, and Bullish. The exchange also drove an industry-leading $61 billion in total capital raised during the first half of 2025, and it introduced 428 new exchange-traded funds with a combined $64.6 billion in assets under management.
The traditional world and DeFi are converging, Martin said, as can be seen in the push for tokenization. "Importantly, those two worlds need to exist in parallel, but come together in clearing" so protections long known to investors continue to exist, she said. "It will also open up the markets to a completely different user base," Martin added. "One of the benefits of the crypto markets, they're reaching audiences that your traditional securities markets have not reached."
