On January 19, according to official sources, the ICE Group's New York Stock Exchange today announced that it is developing a platform for tokenized securities trading and on-chain settlement, and will seek regulatory approval for this.

The NYSE's new digital platform will support a tokenized trading experience, including 24/7 operation, real-time settlement, order placement in dollar amounts, and fund transfers based on stablecoins. Its design combines the NYSE Pillar matching engine with a blockchain-based post-trade system, with the ability to support multi-chain settlement and custody.

ICE Group President Lynn Martin put it bluntly: "We are leading the industry towards a fully on-chain solution while maintaining NYSE's unparalleled protection and high regulatory standards." In other words, they aim to use blockchain to improve efficiency while continuing to earn Wall Street's trust.

Currently, the plan is still in the early development stages, not yet built or fully tested. The NYSE indicates it will seek approval from regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with the platform expected to launch later in 2026.

The initial reaction from the crypto community may be, "Uh-oh, the mainstream players are entering in force again." The narrative of trading traditional stocks on-chain is about to be completely taken away, so what do we have left? In fact, the on-chain transformation of the traditional securities market is not a trend that emerged last year after a significant push for cryptocurrency compliance; it has long been in existence. As we delve more deeply into the past and present of the on-chain transformation of traditional securities in the U.S. and globally, we will find that this is an unstoppable and ongoing trend. Anxiety is understandable, but there should be more confidence.

In the United States, the NYSE is actually racing with Nasdaq

While the NYSE has just made preliminary announcements of its on-chain plan, Nasdaq submitted a formal proposal to the SEC last year.

On September 8, 2025, Nasdaq submitted proposal SR-NASDAQ-2025-072 to the SEC, aimed at amending rules to allow trading of tokenized securities on the Nasdaq market and integrating blockchain technology for settlement and clearing. The proposal emphasizes that blockchain can bring faster settlement, improved audit trails, and a smoother order-to-settlement process.

If approved, this feature is expected to be available by the end of the third quarter of 2026. The proposal is currently under SEC review and submitted a revised version (Amendment No. 1) on December 29, 2025.

At first glance, it seems that the NYSE is lagging behind Nasdaq, but in reality, the NYSE's new plan is not a hasty response to Nasdaq but rather a continuation of ICE's long-term blockchain strategy.

As early as 2015, ICE began exploring blockchain technology and launched the Bakkt platform in 2018 (focused on crypto futures and custody). In 2021, the platform went public on the NYSE through a SPAC merger with VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings.

In August of last year, ICE partnered with Chainlink to provide on-chain forex and precious metals price data. In October, ICE announced a strategic investment in Polymarket, with the investment amount reaching up to $2 billion. Towards the end of last year, there were also reports of ICE being in talks to invest in MoonPay.

Of particular note, the security tokenization initiatives taken by NYSE and Nasdaq differ.

Nasdaq's approach involves a "hybrid model," where traders can choose between a traditional or tokenized (blockchain-based) settlement when entering orders, with all trades executed on the same order book using the same CUSIP identifier, execution rules, and priorities. Clearing and settlement are handled through the DTC, with tokenization serving as an optional "digital representation" without altering the existing structure (such as the T+1 settlement cycle).

In other words, Nasdaq is not establishing a completely new, independent blockchain-based securities trading platform but integrating tokenized securities into the existing system, emphasizing compatibility with the current infrastructure, minimizing disruption to the current setup, and avoiding creating new risks. Although there were reports towards the end of last year that Nasdaq was seeking approval to allow trading five days a week, 23 hours a day, it is still a progressive and moderate reform.

NYSE's approach is evidently more aggressive, aiming to create an entirely new, independent blockchain-based securities trading platform. ICE is collaborating with banks like BNY Mellon and Citi to support tokenized deposits within its clearinghouse, enabling clearing members to transfer and manage funds, meet margin obligations outside traditional banking hours, and accommodate fund requirements across different jurisdictions and time zones.

This eliminates the restrictions of traditional banking settlement windows that are only open on business days. For NYSE, features like T+0 settlement, 24/7 trading, fractional trading, and support for stablecoin funding are all part of the comprehensive transformation, which is undoubtedly more profound compared to Nasdaq.

From a global perspective, the exploration of security tokenization and even asset tokenization has long been underway and is thriving. For example, Switzerland's SIX Digital Exchange (SDX), Germany's Deutsche Börse's D7 platform, the UK's Archax, and Singapore's DBS Bank's Digital Exchange. However, a reform initiative as radical as that of NYSE is still unprecedented.

The race between the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq is by no means just about "earning a bit more transaction fees," but is a proactive move in response to the new landscape of global competition in the traditional securities trading market. Like Nasdaq, the New York Stock Exchange's securities trading platform, NYSE Arca, has also submitted a proposal to extend trading hours and is awaiting formal approval, set for 2024.

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) and Asian exchanges (such as Tokyo or Hong Kong) are also exploring the extension of trading hours.

For each traditional stock exchange, extending trading hours is not simply about superficially "opening for a few more hours." There are many technical changes on the exchange side, such as closing prices, ex-rights dates, ex-dividend dates, and they also face potential network stability challenges. At the securities brokerage level, upgrades are also necessary to accommodate these changes.

Historically, extending trading hours has been a trend that has never stopped alongside technological advancements. Taking the United States as an example, in the 1920s to 1940s, the daily trading hours of the securities market were approximately only 5 hours, rising to about 6 hours in the 1950s to 1970s, about 6.5 hours in the 1980s to 1990s, until reaching around 16 hours in the 21st century.

According to Deloitte's report data, as of June 2023, foreign investors held around $26.86 trillion in U.S. securities. Among the reasons for extending trading hours, there must be an element of better accommodating and attracting foreign investors.

New York Stock Exchange executive Kevin Tyrrell once stated in an interview with CNBC, "Whether in the United States or globally, retail and institutional investor interest in U.S. stocks is continuing to grow. Our proposed 22 hours/5 days (5 days a week, 22 hours a day) extended trading plan is based on multiple conversations with market participants, as well as our own data and analysis. Given the current level of investor demand and the availability of existing market infrastructure, we believe the 22 hours/5 days extended trading plan is the right approach."

For international companies looking to go public, they want to debut on the U.S. stock market with the strongest liquidity in the world. If one of the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq supports 24/7 trading, they would be more inclined to choose the one that supports round-the-clock trading, which is more time zone-friendly.

Although stock exchanges are aware of the risks that 24/7 trading may bring and the upgrade costs involved, the perpetually operational and long-running cryptocurrency market has become their best "teacher" in attracting a global user base. Whether it is extending trading hours or improving trading and settlement efficiency, efforts must be made to embrace global investors. Traditional securities have not stayed in the "traditional" realm; they have also been evolving.

Impact on the Traditional Market

The support for fractional share trading undoubtedly once again significantly lowered the entry barrier for retail investors. One of the major advantages of cryptocurrency compared to the traditional stock market is that even if Bitcoin were to rise to $1 million per coin, a retail investor could still buy $10 worth of it. However, if the NYSE's vision is eventually realized, everyone could also buy $10 worth of mega-cap U.S. stocks such as NVIDIA, Tesla, or Apple.

24/7 trading and T+0 settlement will greatly accelerate the pace of the traditional stock market. On the positive side, settlement risks and cross-border frictions will be greatly reduced, investment flexibility and price discovery efficiency will be significantly improved.

There are risks as well. More intense volatility and increased emotional trading, a relentless market that may lead to liquidity fragmentation, and more price manipulation. Especially during the closed periods of traditional securities markets, the on-chain environment could become a "paradise" more conducive to "bad actors" and insider trading.

Due to changes in trading and settlement mechanisms, the strategies of traditional institutions and market makers may also, like the NYSE and Nasdaq, enter an upgraded stage of one-upmanship. Faced with increasingly upgraded 24/7 information monitoring and automated trading strategies, it's really hard to say whether this progress means more opportunities or more cutthroat competition for retail investors.

Which Cryptocurrency Projects Have Potential Upsides

Although the NYSE's announcement mentioned, "will support multi-chain settlement and custody," there are currently no further details revealing whether this means blockchains like Ethereum, Solana, and other public chains. If so, it is undoubtedly a major boon for public chain coins.

When on-chain stablecoins can directly enter U.S. stock targets through the NYSE's gateway, the probability of another altcoin season in the crypto world will once again decrease in the short term. The reason for saying "short term" is that the demand for on-chain stablecoins to enter U.S. stocks has never had a chance to be met. Once the gateway is opened, there will definitely be a significant sucking effect in the short term.

Over the years, the crypto world has also cultivated a group of investors with distinctive characteristics. The overall investment environment in the crypto world is actually very different from the stock market. Whether to be conservative or to dream of hundreds or thousands of times returns, how investors will choose, or whether they can maintain a more long-term observation, remains to be seen.

For crypto projects in the space of stablecoin borrowing and lending like AAVE, Compound, the NYSE's plan is nothing short of a "godsend narrative." And for projects like Ondo that have previously focused on bringing U.S. stocks onto the blockchain, they will go through the pain of transformation.

For the crypto market, it is about to face unprecedented challenges from the traditional securities market. For the crypto industry, this is blockchain technology's "next frontier" in the traditional financial market, another milestone progress for the industry as a whole.

Does this mean that the future of the crypto market is becoming increasingly bleak? I don't think so. I believe that as the industry progresses as a whole, the future trend of "Everything Tokenization" is unstoppable, and securities are just one part of everything. The crypto market will still be a place where miracles happen. Believe in the future.

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