The SEC-registered switch agent, Superstate, simply enabled direct issuance of SEC-registered shares on Ethereum and Solana, settling major gross sales in stablecoins and recording possession to a switch agent’s ledger that treats the blockchain because the grasp file.
The corporate’s Direct Issuance Packages let issuers ship tokens that characterize the identical authorized fairness with voting and dividend rights, paid for with stablecoins and delivered to KYC wallets at real-time costs.
The transfer shifts a part of the issuance workflow from DTCC-only infrastructure towards public blockchains whereas holding switch agent controls and securities regulation obligations intact.
The primary reside implementation is Galaxy Digital, which tokenized its SEC-registered frequent inventory on Solana via Superstate.
In keeping with Galaxy’s investor web site, 32,374 GLXY shares have been tokenized as of early September 2025, establishing a template for on-chain cap tables that synchronize with a registered switch agent.
The mechanics matter for governance and company actions, since each permitted switch updates useful possession on the RTA’s books, and dividends or splits will be executed via sensible contracts administered by the agent.
A Might 2025 workers FAQ acknowledged {that a} blockchain can function the official Grasp Securityholder File for a registered switch agent, in accordance with a Simpson Thacher abstract, which supplies a regulatory basis for these cap desk fashions.
Distribution is getting ready to comply with issuance
Backpack alternate has stated it’ll checklist SEC-registered, natively tokenized U.S. equities through an integration with Superstate, beginning with non-U.S. entry whereas pursuing U.S. broker-dealer and ATS paths.
The venue mannequin positions wallets, KYC rails, and whitelisted order circulate because the entrance door for traders with out artificial wrappers or SPV constructions. That distinction is a key clarification for 2025, following episodes the place tokenized inventory advertising created confusion between on-chain exposures and precise registered fairness, as reported by Enterprise Insider within the context of artificial choices.
The near-term contest is about who controls the cap desk and the order books. If the switch agent and the chain type the golden supply of possession for KYC’d wallets, then distribution and secondary buying and selling can route via a mixture of compliant venues that talk to that ledger.
Dealer-dealers, ATSs, and conventional market facilities will compete with wallet-native venues and whitelisted AMMs that plug into switch agent hooks.
The SEC has not granted a bespoke path for AMMs to commerce NMS securities, and any AMM that routes orders in NMS securities would wish to adjust to present frameworks corresponding to Reg ATS, truthful entry, surveillance obligations, and short-sale guidelines.
Company statements have careworn that tokenization is just not a shortcut and that market integrity guidelines nonetheless apply.
Plumbing across the new rails is beginning to join
DTCC launched a tokenized collateral platform and briefed the SEC’s Crypto Job Power on tokenization providers that would lengthen into pledging and company motion workflows, in accordance with DTCC public supplies and SEC documentation.
Nasdaq filed to allow tokenized securities buying and selling on its important market when rights are equal, with a timeline as quickly because the third quarter of 2026 if DTC infrastructure is prepared, in accordance with Reuters.
These efforts level to a hybrid stage through which DTC-eligible positions coexist with tokenized cap desk entries, and through which conversion or pledge capabilities bridge the 2. Issuers searching for broader distribution might depend on this bridge for street-name positions whereas working major issuance home windows on-chain in stablecoins.
Issuance workflow is the quick change. Superstate’s Direct Issuance lets firms increase capital on to wallets, take stablecoin proceeds, and file new possession on-chain underneath the switch agent’s supervision.
Observe-ons and at-the-market applications can run exterior conventional market hours, with T≈0 settlement and programmable constraints corresponding to switch restrictions or on-chain accreditation checks. For small and mid-cap issuers, that will develop addressable demand in non-U.S. time zones as soon as compliant venues, KYC pipelines, and custodial choices are reside.
For traders, the custody mannequin flips from omnibus road identify at brokers to wallet-native useful possession tied to the switch agent’s ledger, topic to whitelisting and rescission powers required for regulatory and sanctions compliance.
Secondary buying and selling is the constraint
Backpack’s plan factors to a centralized entry layer for tokenized shares exterior the U.S., whereas U.S. flows hinge on broker-dealer and ATS permissions utilized to tokens which might be the precise securities.
AMMs are technically easy on-chain, but their regulatory standing is unresolved for NMS. Three outcomes body 2026: whitelisted AMMs acknowledged as ATSs, AMMs restricted and centralized order books dominate, or a hybrid through which AMMs function for non-NMS or smaller issuers whereas NMS stays on central restrict order books.
The SEC’s posture, together with Commissioner statements, emphasizes that tokenization should match inside the present regulatory perimeter relatively than invent a separate lane.
The RTA’s expanded function is the throughline. With the blockchain because the grasp securityholder file, switch brokers mediate whitelist controls, error correction, rescission, and audit trails for on-chain transfers.
That locations brokers on the chokepoints for company actions and governance. Wallets and venues with sturdy KYC and sanctions tooling turn into distribution companions that may feed the grasp file with clear information.
Stablecoin issuers profit from major settlement volumes, and custodians will adapt to carry tokens straight or via managed pockets architectures that meet Rule 15c3-3 and comparable custody expectations when broker-dealers intermediate.
A sensible query for issuers is how tokenized shares interaction with DTC positions. DTCC’s tokenization applications focus first on collateral, with scope to increase into securities workflows.
Nasdaq’s submitting assumes that DTC infrastructure is prepared earlier than token-settled trades sit on the identical order e book.
Till a seamless conversion path is in manufacturing, many issuers might keep parallel rails, utilizing DTC for mainstream alternate buying and selling and utilizing on-chain issuance for focused capital formation, dividend distribution experiments, or managed secondary transfers amongst whitelisted wallets.
The bridge timing will decide how rapidly on-chain liquidity can attain parity with street-name liquidity.
The metrics to observe are easy
What number of issuers enroll in Superstate’s Opening Bell stack, what number of shares excellent turn into token transferable, and what number of on-chain holders seem on the grasp file, which Superstate says it maintains as a registered switch agent.
How a lot major issuance settles in stablecoins every month? How a lot quantity Backpack and different compliant venues route for tokenized equities, particularly in non-U.S. markets? How DTCC’s tokenized collateral community scales and whether or not DTC conversion or company motion bridges for tokenized fairness enter testing.
Every information level will describe whether or not that is primarily a settlement improve or the beginning of a brand new order circulate channel.
The 2026 setup is certain by the general public milestones and in the present day’s working methods. Galaxy’s tokenization demonstrates that issuers can problem actual shares on-chain underneath switch agent management. Superstate’s Direct Issuance opens wallet-native primaries with stablecoin money legs.
DTCC and Nasdaq have articulated timelines that would make token legs seen inside mainstream market plumbing by late 2026, if the infrastructure aligns. SEC workers have already made room for on-chain grasp recordsdata, whereas broader secondary buying and selling permissions stay underneath evaluation.
That leaves a hybrid market construction via 2026, with stablecoin settlement, whitelisted wallets, and switch brokers anchoring cap tables as venues compete to manage the order circulate that sits on high.
| 2026 situation | Issuers | Token-enabled float | Every day on-chain quantity | Buying and selling construction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 5–8 | $0.5–1.5B | $2–8M | CLOB venues dominate whereas on-chain used for primaries and managed transfers |
| Base case | 12–20 | $3–7B | $15–40M | Hybrid, stablecoin-settled primaries frequent, early bridges to DTC |
| Bull | 30–50 | $10–25B | $80–200M | Whitelisted AMMs run as ATS analogs alongside alternate order books |
Issuers, switch brokers, venues, and infrastructure suppliers now have a working path to maneuver SEC-registered shares from DTCC-only rails to public blockchains.
