In the span of six weeks, the three most powerful institutions in American capital markets — the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) — have all filed proposals, launched pilots, or begun building blockchain-native infrastructure for trading equi...
"Public equity still runs on decades-old market plumbing, and it simply doesn't make sense anymore. By issuing FGRD natively onchain, we're re-architecting the core infrastructure of capital markets to be real-time, transparent, and programmable." — Mike Cagney, Executive Chairman, Figure Technologies
In the span of six weeks, the three most powerful institutions in American capital markets — the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) — have all filed proposals, launched pilots, or begun building blockchain-native infrastructure for trading equities. This is not a pilot program buried in an innovation lab. These are production-grade initiatives with SEC filings, no-action letters, and live tokens.
On February 19, 2026, Figure Technologies debuted its FGRD tokenized stock on the Onchain Public Equity Network (OPEN), becoming the first SEC-registered equity to be issued, traded, and settled entirely onchain. The same week, NYSE confirmed development of a 24/7 blockchain-powered trading platform for tokenized stocks and ETFs. Nasdaq's rule change proposal to enable token-settled trades sits with the SEC after multiple amendments. And the DTCC — which clears virtually every U.S. securities transaction — has received a no-action letter to begin tokenizing custodied assets on distributed ledgers.
The tokenized equities market has exploded from $32 million to $963 million in a single year — a 2,878% increase. But these numbers understate the magnitude of what is happening. The institutions that process $1.7 quadrillion in annual securities transactions are rebuilding their plumbing on blockchain rails.
On February 19, 2026, Figure Technologies launched what may be the most consequential experiment in equity market structure since electronic trading replaced the open-outcry pit. FGRD — a tokenized class of Figure's common stock — began trading on the company's Onchain Public Equity Network (OPEN), bypassing every layer of traditional Wall Street infrastructure.
This is not a synthetic wrapper or a custodial receipt representing shares held elsewhere. FGRD tokens represent actual equity ownership, recorded and settled directly on a blockchain. Issuance, trading, custody, and settlement occur in a single onchain environment with T+0 finality. Traditional equities still settle on T+1 rails through a chain of broker-dealers, clearinghouses, and custodians that collectively extract basis points at every handoff.
The launch coincided with an upsized $150 million secondary share offering, with Pantera Capital among the participants. BitGo and Jump Trading completed the first tokenized equity trades on the platform. Investors can access FGRD through the Figure Markets app and self-custody wallets integrated with OPEN.
Perhaps most disruptively, FGRD holders can immediately pledge their shares as collateral for lending and borrowing through Figure's "Democratized Prime" protocol — a DeFi-native prime brokerage service that would require months of paperwork and millions in minimum balances in the traditional system. Stock lending, the $3.4 trillion shadow market that generates billions annually for prime brokers, is being unbundled and put onchain.
In January 2026, the New York Stock Exchange — the 233-year-old institution that defines American capital markets — announced development of a blockchain-powered platform for 24/7 trading of tokenized stocks and ETFs. The announcement from Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), NYSE's parent company, was not aspirational. It included specific architectural details: NYSE's Pillar matching engine will be combined with blockchain-based post-trade systems supporting multiple chains for settlement and custody.
The platform's feature set reads like a DeFi protocol's pitch deck: round-the-clock trading, instant settlement, fractional shares denominated in dollar amounts, and stablecoin-based funding. Tokenized shareholders will retain traditional governance and dividend rights — the wrapper changes, but the underlying equity rights remain intact.
NYSE is working with BNY Mellon and Citi on tokenized deposits and 24/7 clearing infrastructure, signaling that the supporting banking layer is being built in parallel. The targeted launch is late 2026, pending SEC approval for a rule change from traditional T+1 settlement to instant blockchain-based clearing.
The strategic implications are significant. Markets currently operate roughly 6.5 hours per day, 252 days per year — approximately 1,638 hours of the 8,760 hours in a year. A 24/7 tokenized market would increase available trading hours by 435%. For global investors across time zones, the value proposition is immediate and material.
Nasdaq filed its proposed rule change with the SEC on September 8, 2025, seeking to enable token-settled trades of equity securities and exchange-traded products. After multiple amendments — the latest being Amendment No. 2, filed on January 20, 2026 — the proposal remains under SEC review.
The Nasdaq approach is notable for its pragmatism. Rather than building a separate blockchain-native exchange, Nasdaq proposes allowing investors to choose on a trade-by-trade basis whether to settle traditionally or via tokenized blockchain settlement. The Depository Trust Company would handle the backend clearing for both pathways, recording tokenized assets in blockchain-based wallets registered and screened by DTC for OFAC compliance.
If approved, the first token-settled trades on Nasdaq could occur by Q3 2026. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) has filed comments on the proposal, indicating serious institutional engagement with the details of implementation.
Nasdaq's incremental approach — offering tokenized settlement as an option rather than a mandate — may prove strategically shrewd. It reduces regulatory friction while creating a competitive flywheel: as more participants opt for instant settlement, the cost and inconvenience of legacy T+1 settlement becomes increasingly difficult to justify.
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation processes virtually every securities transaction in the United States. On December 11, 2025, the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets issued a no-action letter authorizing DTC to operate a three-year pilot program for tokenizing custodied assets on distributed ledgers.
Under the pilot, DTC participants may elect to have their security entitlements recorded as tokens on supported blockchains rather than exclusively on DTC's centralized ledger. The goal, as stated in the SEC letter, is to enable participants to benefit from the "mobility, decentralization, and programmability" of blockchain technology. The pilot covers equity securities, ETFs, and fixed-income securities.
DTCC has partnered with Digital Asset Holdings, deploying on the Canton Network — a privacy-enabled, permissioned blockchain that gives financial institutions granular control over data visibility. DTC plans to conduct production-based but limited minimum viable products in early 2026, with a broader pilot launch in the second half of the year.
This is the single most important development in the tokenized securities landscape. NYSE, Nasdaq, and Figure can build whatever front-end trading platforms they want, but settlement finality in U.S. capital markets runs through DTC. With DTC now authorized to record security entitlements as blockchain tokens, the foundational layer is in place for the entire U.S. equity market to eventually migrate onchain.
While exchanges and clearinghouses build infrastructure, WisdomTree has been quietly proving the demand side. The asset manager increased its tokenized fund assets from $30 million at the start of 2025 to $770 million by year-end — a 2,467% increase in twelve months.
WisdomTree Connect now offers 13 SEC-registered tokenized funds across Ethereum, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, and Optimism, spanning money market, equities, fixed income, and asset allocation strategies. The bulk of assets — approximately $740 million — sits in the Government Money Market Digital Fund (WTGXX), a 1940 Act-registered fund that operates with 24/7 onchain trading and settlement.
At Bank of New York Mellon's Financial Services Conference in mid-February 2026, WisdomTree confirmed that the SEC recognized its exemptive application enabling money market fund shares to "act like a native asset on chain." This regulatory greenlight for a tokenized money market fund to operate with 24/7 settlement is a template that other asset managers will follow.
The WisdomTree data point demolishes the argument that tokenized securities lack demand. $770 million flowed into tokenized funds in a single year, and this was before NYSE, Nasdaq, or DTC had launched their tokenized equity platforms. The demand curve is pointing sharply upward before the supply infrastructure is fully built.
The traditional equity market's infrastructure is extraordinarily expensive. The post-trade processing layer — clearinghouses, custodians, transfer agents, reconciliation systems — represents an estimated $17-24 billion in annual costs globally. Failed trades alone cost the industry $900 million per year in the U.S., according to DTCC's own estimates.
Tokenized settlement eliminates these costs structurally. When a trade settles atomically onchain, there is no reconciliation because both sides of the transaction update simultaneously. There is no settlement risk because delivery-versus-payment occurs in a single transaction. There are no failed trades because the blockchain either confirms or rejects the transaction.
The broader tokenized assets market reflects this economic logic. Valued at $2.08 trillion in 2025, the market is projected to reach $18.74 trillion by 2031 at a 44.25% compound annual growth rate. Within this, tokenized equities specifically have grown from $32 million to $963 million in one year — and that was before any major exchange launched a tokenized trading platform.
The convergence of reduced costs, improved capital efficiency, 24/7 market access, and programmable compliance creates an economic gravity that will be difficult for traditional market structure to resist. The question is no longer whether equities go onchain, but how fast — and who controls the rails.
Figure launched the first SEC-registered equity issued, traded, and settled entirely onchain on February 19, 2026, with a $150 million secondary offering backed by Pantera Capital.
NYSE is building a 24/7 blockchain-powered trading platform for tokenized stocks and ETFs, targeting late 2026 launch with stablecoin-based funding and instant settlement.
Nasdaq's token settlement proposal is under active SEC review, with potential first trades by Q3 2026 using an opt-in model alongside traditional settlement.
DTCC received SEC authorization for a three-year tokenization pilot, enabling blockchain-based recording of security entitlements for equities, ETFs, and fixed income — the critical infrastructure layer.
Tokenized equities exploded 2,878% in one year, from $32 million to $963 million, and WisdomTree's tokenized funds grew from $30 million to $770 million in 2025 alone.
The competitive dynamics are accelerating: NYSE, Nasdaq, and startups like Figure are racing to define the market structure for the next generation of equity trading, with the DTCC's pilot providing the settlement infrastructure that makes large-scale adoption possible.
The week of February 17-20, 2026, may be remembered as the inflection point when American capital markets committed to blockchain infrastructure. Figure's FGRD launch proved that onchain equities work in production. NYSE and Nasdaq confirmed that the world's largest exchanges are building tokenized alternatives to their own legacy systems. And the DTCC's SEC-authorized pilot ensures that the settlement layer — the unsexy but essential plumbing — will support the transition.
For the crypto industry, this represents the ultimate validation: the institutions that spent a decade dismissing blockchain are now racing to build on it. But it also presents a challenge. If NYSE and DTCC succeed in tokenizing equities on permissioned infrastructure, the promise of permissionless, decentralized finance may be sidelined in favor of institutional blockchain — efficient, regulated, and centrally controlled.
The $963 million tokenized equities market of today is a rounding error against the $109 trillion global equity market. The infrastructure being built this year is designed to close that gap. Whether the resulting system looks more like DeFi or like a faster version of the existing financial system will be determined by the architectural decisions being made right now — in SEC filings, no-action letters, and the first onchain trades of a new era.