Nasdaq filed to bring tokenized securities onto its main market

Nasdaq filed a proposed rule change with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on September 8, 2025 that would allow equity securities and exchange-traded products to trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market in tokenized form.

The proposal did not launch tokenized trading or indicate that the SEC had approved it. Instead, Nasdaq asked to modify its rules so eligible tokenized and conventional shares could use the same regulated market, with blockchain-based representation introduced through post-trade settlement. That distinction made the filing more consequential than a private tokenization experiment: a national securities exchange was proposing to incorporate tokenized settlement without creating a separate crypto trading venue.

How Nasdaq’s design would work

Under the proposed rules, a tokenized share would have to be fungible with its traditional counterpart, use the same CUSIP identifier and provide the same material rights and privileges. Both forms would trade together on the same Nasdaq order book and receive the same execution priority. Tokenization would therefore not create a second class of order competing under different matching rules.

A participating broker seeking tokenized settlement would select a designated flag when entering an order. After execution, Nasdaq would transmit that instruction to The Depository Trust Company, or DTC. DTC would carry out the instruction under its own rules and procedures or arrange an alternative with the participant if tokenized settlement could not be completed.

The exchange’s matching engine would otherwise treat tokenized and traditional shares alike. The proposal retained existing order types, routing strategies, trading sessions, fees, surveillance and market-data infrastructure. It also said DTC-handled tokenized transactions would continue to settle on a T+1 basis. No separate tokenized price feed or execution queue was proposed.

Implementation depended on infrastructure and approvals that did not exist as an operating service on September 8. The filing said the change would become effective only after DTC established the required post-trade services and obtained necessary regulatory approvals. Nasdaq also committed to issue an Equity Trader Alert at least 30 calendar days before accepting tokenized securities.

Why the filing mattered

Nasdaq’s approach treated blockchain as an additional securities-recording and settlement mechanism, not an exemption from federal market structure. Tokenized shares would remain inside the national market system, where consolidated pricing, trade reporting, broker obligations and exchange surveillance already applied.

That position addressed a central institutional question surrounding tokenization: whether blockchain-based instruments should trade in isolated venues or remain connected to the regulated markets for their underlying securities. Nasdaq argued that separation could fragment liquidity, obscure market-wide prices and weaken issuer and investor protections. Those arguments were the exchange’s policy position, not independently demonstrated outcomes of a functioning tokenized market.

The proposal was also narrower than claims that Nasdaq was moving the stock market wholesale onto a blockchain. Order entry, matching, routing and public market data would continue through existing systems. The blockchain component appeared principally in DTC’s contemplated post-trade representation and settlement process. The filing did not create round-the-clock trading, approve a particular blockchain, authorize every tokenized stock product or change the legal status of tokenized securities.

What remained unresolved

On September 8, the SEC still had to review the filing, DTC’s contemplated infrastructure remained subject to refinement and regulatory approval, and product-specific permissions could still be required. Nasdaq also acknowledged unresolved issuer concerns about whether and how shares should be tokenized.

No price, volume or return claim is made here. Reuters described the proposal as potentially the first instance of tokenized securities trading on a major U.S. exchange if approved, but that conditional description did not establish a completed market event or a causal effect on cryptocurrency prices.

Later administrative confirmation

The SEC published its formal notice on September 16, 2025, confirming that Nasdaq had filed SR-NASDAQ-2025-072 on September 8 and opening the proposal to public comment. That later notice verifies the event date and submitted mechanics; it does not convert the September 8 proposal into an event-day approval.