Securitize Secures $400M, Set to SECZ the Deal on NYSE 🏛️

Tokenization platform Securitize said Friday it expects to raise approximately $400 million in gross proceeds through its public debut via a merger with Cantor Equity Partners II (CEPT), a special purpose acquisition company backed by Cantor Fitzgerald. The figure includes related private investment in public equity (PIPE) financings and excludes transaction-related expenses, according to final redemption results showing that less than 30% of CEPT shareholders elected to redeem. Shares in CEPT closed Friday up 7% at $10.86 and continued climbing after-hours to $11.

The merger is expected to close Wednesday, July 1, subject to shareholder approval on Monday and other customary closing conditions. Upon completion, the combined company will trade under the ticker SECZ on the New York Stock Exchange beginning Thursday, July 2.

"Reaching the public markets is a significant milestone for Securitize and a reflection of the growing momentum behind tokenization," said Securitize co-founder and CEO Carlos Domingo. "When we started more than eight years ago, the idea that major institutions would embrace tokenized securities was still largely theoretical. Today, tokenization is moving into the mainstream."

Securitize is backed by institutional investors including BlackRock and Morgan Stanley, as well as crypto firms Coinbase and Circle. In March, the company announced a partnership with the New York Stock Exchange to create tokenized assets for the exchange's planned tokenized securities platform. Earlier this month, Standard Chartered projected that the amount of tokenized assets active in decentralized finance could grow 37-fold to $2.7 trillion by the end of 2030.

The listing comes amid heightened regulatory attention to tokenization. In mid-May, the US Securities and Exchange Commission was reportedly prepared to allow trading of tokenized stocks before delaying the plan later that month after stock exchange officials raised concerns over implementation. Securitize's debut marks another crypto-related public market entry on Wall Street as firms seek exposure to blockchain-based representations of traditional assets.