NYSE Hands Blockchain.com the Keys to a 24/7 Stock Shop 🗝️

Blockchain.com and NYSE Group signed a memorandum of understanding to explore giving eligible Blockchain.com users access to tokenized U.S. exchange-listed stocks and ETFs through the NYSE's planned digital trading platform, the firms said Wednesday. The arrangement is subject to regulatory approval, and the NYSE venue has not yet launched.

The planned platform is being built by NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange as a digital alternative trading system, or ATS. The company announced in January that the venue would support 24/7 trading, fractional trading, onchain settlement and stablecoin-based funding of tokenized securities.

Under the agreement, Blockchain.com will connect its user base of more than 44 million confirmed accounts across more than 70 jurisdictions to the planned venue. NYSE Group's broader retail and institutional clients would gain access to Blockchain.com's crypto market data through the partnership, the firms said. Neither company disclosed a launch date or financial terms.

"Tokenized stocks are one of the most impactful advancements in the modern financial landscape," Blockchain.com Executive Chairman and CEO Peter Smith said. He added that connecting with the NYSE platform could extend access to tokenized assets across Blockchain.com's global user base. Smith also said: "People shouldn't be limited in owning stocks based on where they happen to live or the brokerage and information they may or may not have access to."

The companies also plan to share market data. ICE Data Services, an affiliate of Intercontinental Exchange, will distribute Blockchain.com's crypto market data and analytics to its clients, while Blockchain.com will add certain NYSE and ICE feeds to its platform. The Securities and Exchange Commission last week unveiled an "innovation exemption" letting qualifying venues trade tokenized U.S. stocks on public blockchains without registering as exchanges.

Blockchain.com, which confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO in May, faces growing competition in tokenized equities. Coinbase launched tokenized stocks on Base, its Ethereum layer-2 network, for non-U.S. users in August, and other crypto venues are racing to roll out their own tokenized stock offerings. The countries that will receive access under the Blockchain.com-NYSE arrangement have not been announced.