Galaxy Digital, a cryptocurrency investment firm publicly traded on the Nasdaq, has officially introduced its long-awaited project to directly tokenize SEC registered stock GLXY on a major blockchain.
Announced earlier today, the project enables existing GLXY shareholders to tokenize their stock into a digital asset in accordance with security regulations via Superstate’s Opening Bell platform.
These plans aim to mark a milestone with the convergence of traditional equity markets with blockchain infrastructure.
Effective immediately, investors can now access their tokenized stock GLXY with Galaxy Digital being the first Nasdaq-listed company to have its publicly traded equity fully on-chain in this manner.
Opening Bell Brings Equities Directly Onchain, Starting With Solana
The Opening Bell platform from Superstate was launched in May to tokenize SEC-registered equities and trade them on-chain.
Galaxy’s tokenized form of GLXY stock is the same as actual registered shares and is distinct from synthetic or wrapped forms of public company shares that use intermediaries.
Shares will be obtained by KYC-approved investors, and they may hold and transfer them in their own digital wallets.
Galaxy also stated that the tokenized shares could be used as part of Automated Market Makers (AMMs) and in the general DeFi ecosystem in order to create new methods for liquidity and financial use cases.
Also Read: Dubai Launches Middle East’s First Tokenized Real Estate Investment On XRP Ledger
Bridging Traditional Finance With Blockchain Transparency
In the announcement, Mike Novogratz, founding CEO of Galaxy, indicated the company’s goal is to build an equity model.
The model mixes a degree of transparency and programmability of blockchain with the regulatory certainty of traditional finance.
“Our ambition is a tokenized equity that takes the best of crypto and brings it to the traditional world,” said Novogratz, illustrating Galaxy’s vision of building the foundation of a scalable on-chain capital market.
By joining forces with Superstate, Galaxy hopes to pave the way for other Nasdaq-listed firms to do the same, which could be the catalyst for institutional involvement in tokenized equity to accelerate.
Also Read: Ondo Finance’s Tokenized Treasury Product OUSG Now Live on XRPL, Powered by Ripple’s RLUSD
Superstate Hails Landmark Achievement for Tokenized Capital Markets
Superstate CEO Robert Leshner referred to the initiative as a milestone, noting that “this is the first time a Nasdaq-listed company has been tokenized on a public blockchain”.
Robert Leshner mentioned that if there were a transfer of tokenized GLXY shares, the registered shareholders’ list would be updated in real-time.
This real-time reconciliation could improve efficiencies, reduce settlement risks, and lay the foundation for tokenized markets that are compliant and transparent.
They have been engaged in progressing regulation-friendly tokenization models, having turned in proposals to the SEC’s Crypto Task Force earlier this year for a definitive framework.
Tokenization Gains Traction Across Global Financial Institutions
Galaxy’s announcement comes at a larger wave of tokenization activity from major finance players around the world.
On August 21, DBS, Singapore’s largest bank, tokenized structured notes on Ethereum and made them into $1,000 tradable units, also expanding access beyond private clients, UnoCrypto reported.
A day later, we reported that State Street, a $5.1 trillion asset manager, became the first outside custodian on JPMorgan’s tokenized debt platform and settled a $100 million tokenized commercial debt transaction with OCBC.
These activities demonstrate how tokenization is rapidly transitioning from experimental pilots to mainstream, with Galaxy’s Nasdaq-listed stock now paving the way forward as the first equity.