Autor Cointelegraph by Nate Kostar

Blockchain.com and the New York Stock Exchange have signed a memorandum of understanding to give Blockchain.com users access to tokenized US-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds through NYSE’s planned digital trading platform.Under the proposed arrangement, Blockchain.com would distribute tokenized US equities and ETFs traded on NYSE’s digital alternative trading system (ATS), subject to regulatory approval. The deal would extend NYSE’s planned tokenized securities offering to Blockchain.com’s global customer base.The agreement also covers an exchange of market data. NYSE affiliate ICE Data Services plans to distribute Blockchain.com’s crypto market data and analytics to its clients, while Blockchain.com would add certain ICE and NYSE market data feeds to its platform.Reid Noch, vice president of US equity market structure at TD Securities, told Cointelegraph that NYSE’s planned tokenized ATS appears “primarily like a play for retail flow,” pointing to its planned 24/7 trading and request-for-quote functionality. Because retail trades are already pre-funded, Noch said the shift to instant settlement would require little change to existing retail workflows.“The bigger differentiator is true weekend trading,” Noch said. “This could be impactful for retail heavy names or around episodic news events, similar to what we saw with tokenized oil PERPs during the start of the Iran conflict that started over the weekend.”Related: Ondo lets institutions convert stocks directly into tokenized sharesExchanges race into tokenized stocks“Crypto venues are becoming multi-asset platforms, and traditional assets are adopting the 24/7, programmable structure crypto pioneered,” Tanay Ved, senior research associate at institutional digital asset technology firm Talos, said in comments shared with Cointelegraph.That shift is playing out across major exchanges. Kraken offers xStocks and has partnered with Nasdaq on a separate tokenized equity model, while Binance, Coinbase and Robinhood have rolled out their own approaches to bringing equities onchain.However, Ved said the different approaches involve trade-offs between ownership and accessibility:The models of tokenization sit across a spectrum, from issuer-native equity to custodial exposure to pure derivatives. Each trades ownership for accessibility. Which model wins out is yet to be seen, as we sit in the early innings of adoption. For exchanges, the opportunity is a more diversified revenue base and for the market, the line between crypto and traditional assets continues to blur.Meanwhile, the tokenized stock market has been expanding rapidly. Distributed value reached $3.14 billion as of Wednesday, up more than 18% over the past 30 days, while the number of holders climbed nearly 72% to 3.87 million, according to RWA.xyz data.Tokenized stocks. Source: RWA.xyzSEC opens path for tokenized stocksThe partnership also comes less than a week after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) introduced a five-year “Innovation Exemption” for certain tokenized securities venues.Under the exemption, eligible tokenized securities venues can use permissioned automated market maker liquidity pools to facilitate trading without being treated as exchanges under the Exchange Act. Among the conditions, venues must ensure that tokenized stocks carry the same rights and privileges as equivalent traditional shares.Those requirements exclude some existing products from the exemption in their current form, including Kraken’s xStocks and Robinhood’s Stock Tokens, which provide exposure to underlying equities but do not give holders the same rights as conventional shareholders. However, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has said that while the exemption covers one specific model for tokenized securities, it leaves open the possibility of other approaches outside the framework. Magazine: Big Questions: Does Satoshi actually own 1.1 million Bitcoin?

Crypto lender Arch Lending plans to expand into loans backed by tokenized equities as the market for onchain stocks expands and lenders begin exploring new uses for the assets as collateral.Arch co-founder and chief revenue officer Himanshu Sahay told Cointelegraph’s Chain Reaction podcast that the lender plans to enter the market “pretty soon,” pointing to a need for credit against tokenized stocks.Sahay said tokenized equities have grown rapidly over the past year, but lending against the assets remains limited, and predicted that more lenders will enter the market.He pointed to tokenized equities issued by firms including Superstate, Robinhood and Securitize, predicting that multiple lenders will eventually participate in the market to provide credit against the assets.Source: CointelegraphArch has already expanded beyond cryptocurrencies into tokenized real-world assets, launching loans backed by Paxos Gold and Tether Gold in recent weeks, according to Sahay.But crypto still dominates Arch’s existing loan book, with Bitcoin (BTC) accounting for more than 80%, Sahay said. He added that the lender has recently seen growing interest in XRP as collateral, particularly among US borrowers. Related: Kraken brings DeFi yield to tokenized stocks and ETFsTokenized stocks enter lending marketsArch would not be the first lender to enter the tokenized equity credit market, with tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) already entering lending and collateral products.In February, Ondo Finance launched DeFi lending markets for two of its tokenized ETFs through an integration with lending protocol Morpho. Ondo’s tokenized versions of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF and Invesco QQQ can be used as collateral for borrowing on Ethereum.Tokenized stocks are also beginning to find uses beyond dedicated lending markets. Kraken made 10 xStocks eligible to back futures and margin positions in July, while Coinbase’s B20 stocks launched on Base in August with price-feed infrastructure designed to support uses including DeFi borrowing and lending.Tokenized equities. Source: RWA.xyzThe growth in lending use cases comes as the tokenized equities market itself has expanded sharply. Distributed tokenized stock value has climbed to about $3.15 billion from roughly $630 million a year ago, according to RWA.xyz data.Magazine: Kyle Samani predicts SOL flippening, claims ‘no one’ uses ETH

Canada’s six largest banks are jointly exploring a system for tokenized Canadian dollar deposits that would allow digital representations of bank deposits to move between financial institutions.The initiative involves Bank of Montreal, CIBC, National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank and TD Bank Group, according to a joint announcement from the banks on Tuesday. The first phase will focus on moving tokenized deposits between Canadian financial institutions before potentially connecting with other digital asset systems.The project comes less than two weeks after Canada’s banking regulator provided additional clarity on the legal permissibility of tokenized deposits for financial institutions.On Sept. 10, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) said tokenized deposits are “not legally distinct from traditional deposits,” adding that the underlying technology of a financial product does not determine its legal nature.OSFI clarifies tokenized deposit rules. Source: Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI)Tokenized deposits represent money held at a regulated bank and remain a liability of that bank, unlike fiat-backed stablecoins, which are separate digital assets backed by reserves held by their issuer.The banks said the system is intended to support faster and programmable payments, while longer-term plans include opening the initiative to other deposit-taking institutions. Cointelegraph contacted CIBC for additional details but did not receive an immediate response.Related: Coinbase launches regulated crypto derivatives in CanadaCanada builds out stablecoin frameworkThe tokenized deposit initiative comes as Canada builds out a broader regulatory framework for digital money.In March, Canada enacted its Stablecoin Act as part of Bill C-15, establishing a federal framework for fiat-backed stablecoins. Under the regime, non-financial institution issuers will be required to register with the Bank of Canada, maintain reserves of at least 1:1 in high-quality liquid assets and offer holders redemption at par. The framework is expected to take effect in 2027.However, the framework only covers fiat-backed stablecoins issued by non-financial institutions. Banks and credit unions that are already subject to prudential regulation fall outside its scope. Issuers covered by the framework will also be prohibited from representing their stablecoins as deposits or as insured under a public deposit insurance system.Magazine: Big Questions: Does Satoshi actually own 1.1 million Bitcoin?

Saudi Arabia has withdrawn from mBridge, a China-backed cross-border digital currency project designed to enable direct transactions between central banks, according to the Financial Times.SAMA, Saudi Arabia’s central bank, joined mBridge as a full participant in June 2024 and ended its participation after completing a proof of concept on May 13, 2025, FT reported, citing a statement from the central bank. SAMA said it had planned to end its participation.MBridge was established in 2021 through a collaboration between the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub and the central banks of China, Hong Kong, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates, with the aim of making cross-border payments faster and cheaper.Rather than using a single stablecoin, the platform allows participating central banks to issue and transact in their own digital currencies on a shared ledger, including for cross-border payments and foreign exchange transactions.The project continued to develop under the BIS until October 2024, when the organization handed it over to the participating central banks after mBridge reached its minimum viable product stage. Then-BIS General Manager Agustín Carstens said the BIS departure was not politically motivated.The project has nevertheless drawn scrutiny from US policymakers. A 2024 report from the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission said mBridge could eventually provide an alternative cross-border settlement system for countries seeking to evade US sanctions.Cointelegraph contacted the Saudi Central Bank for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.Related: Chinese newspaper warns of Bitcoin extortion scam using its nameChina weighs digital currencies’ role in cross-border paymentsChina’s central bank, meanwhile, has increasingly focused on the role stablecoins could play in cross-border payments as their use expands globally.In June, People’s Bank of China Research Bureau director General Wang Xin called for closer monitoring of stablecoins and central bank digital currencies in cross-border payments, along with greater international coordination.His comments came months after Chinese authorities restricted the unauthorized issuance of renminbi-pegged stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets, including by foreign entities.Magazine: Who needs CLARITY anyway? ARB could see 70X increase: Hodler’s Digest

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