The SEC Approves Nasdaq's Security Tokenization Trading: Stocks Tradable on Blockchain

On March 19, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officially approved a Nasdaq rule change allowing the exchange to pilot tokenized trading of securities—marking a key step for traditional capital markets toward blockchain adoption. Under the plan, eligible stocks and ETFs will clear and settle in tokenized form within the existing trading system, while maintaining the same order book, trading priority, and shareholder rights as traditional shares. The pilot is tied to the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC)'s tokenization initiative. Investors can opt to settle in tokenized form when placing orders, with the system processing trades on-chain post-execution. Nasdaq noted that beyond the settlement method, trading rules, market data, fee structures, and regulatory monitoring will remain unchanged. Tokenized securities will also be fully compliant with and integrated into existing U.S. securities law frameworks. Industry observers say this move marks the official start of regulated blockchain-based U.S. equity trading implementation, with the potential to reshape the entire securities issuance, trading, and settlement ecosystem.