Columbia Professor Questions NYSE Tokenization Plan: More Like "Vaporware," Serious Lack of Details

On January 22, Columbia Business School professor Omid Malekan publicly pushed back on the New York Stock Exchange’s (NYSE) latest proposed blockchain tokenization plan, bluntly calling it “vaporware” — noting key implementation details are largely missing. Malekan pointed out the NYSE failed to specify critical specifics: which blockchain the platform will run on, whether it will use a permissioned or permissionless architecture, if a hybrid model is in the cards, and how tokenomics and fee structures will work. Without this core information, he argued the vision comes off as more conceptual marketing than a concrete roadmap. NYSE and parent firm Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) have previously stated the blockchain platform aims to enable 24/7 trading of stocks and ETFs, instant settlement, multi-chain support, and custody services. But Malekan stressed the NYSE’s business model is fundamentally a highly centralized, oligopolistic structure — and crypto technology alone can’t shift that reality unless the exchange actively ditches its current partnership ecosystem. Despite academic skepticism, some crypto industry professionals see the plan as meaningful. Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo called “on-chain trading of native tokenized stocks a major positive development,” while Aptos Labs Head of Research Alexander Spiegelman noted bringing blockchain to traditional markets is “timely.”