Wall Street Pushes Stock Tokenization as Institutions Flag Real-Time Settlement and Liquidity Risks

Stock tokenization puts equity ownership rights on a blockchain, promising 24/7 trading, near-instant settlement and cross-border access. ICE-owned NYSE and Nasdaq have both moved into the sector. In May 2026, Bullish announced a $4.2 billion acquisition of transfer agent Equiniti in a bid to enable stocks to be issued directly onchain. However, multiple tokens representing the same stock could fragment price discovery and liquidity.

On May 22, 2026, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission delayed an “innovation exemption” for tokenized stocks that had been slated for launch that week. TD Securities said real-time settlement would require prefunding and could undermine the net settlement used under the current T+1 system. Retail investors account for about 20% of U.S. equity trading volume. Separately, on March 14, five Brazilian associations, including ABcripto, representing more than 850 companies opposed extending the IOF financial transaction tax to stablecoins.