NASDAQ Seeks to Become First Major US Exchange to Allow Trading in Crypto

If approved, it would be the first time tokenized securities were allowed to trade on a major U.S. stock exchange. Per Reuters, it would also represent the most ambitious attempt yet by U.S. exchange operator to bring blockchain-based settlement into the national market system.

“The agenda covers potential rule proposals related to the offer and sale of crypto assets to help clarify the regulatory framework for crypto assets and provide greater certainty to the market.,” SEC chair Paul Atkins said in a press release announcing the 2025 roadmap. “It also covers a number of envisioned deregulatory rule proposals to reduce compliance burdens and facilitate capital formation, including by simplifying pathways for raising capital and investor access to private businesses.”

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In its Monday filing, NASDAQ noted that some exchanges in Europe are allowing investors to trade tokenized U.S. stocks, albeit without providing actual equity in the companies. The filing argued NASDAQ would raise the bar for tokenized securities to have “the same material rights and privileges as do traditional securities of an equivalent class.” Tokenized assets and traditional securities would trade together “on the same order book and according to the same execution priority rules,” it said.

Such trading could begin by the end of the third-quarter of 2026, according to filing, assuming the Deposit Trust Company’s infrastructure for clearing on-chain trades is in place by then.

NASDAQ’s filing also follows an announcement last week of plans by U.S. securities regulators to harmonize trading rules across different asset classes to enable greater innovation in financial-asset trading. In a joint statement, the SEC and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission the agencies said they will work together “to craft a reliable playbook for innovators and investors, advancing U.S. competitiveness and market integrity, consistent with our statutory mandates.”

Among the proposals is an expansion of trading hours for some types of assets to better align U.S. markets with foreign-exchange, gold, and crypto markets that already trade around the clock. Others include allowing event contracts to be listed in prediction markets, including those based on securities, and to consider where event contracts could be made available to U.S. market participants “regardless of where the jurisdictional lines fall.”

The latest developments come as global demand for tokenized assets among investors is growing rapidly, Reuters noted. Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange, recently sought permission from the SEC to offer “tokenized equities” to its customers. And some major global banks, including Bank of America and Citi are exploring launching tokenized assets, including stablecoins.

In its filing on Monday, Nasdaq said it believes the markets can use tokenization while “continuing to provide the benefits and protections of the national market system.”