FINRA green lights Securitize for tokenized IPO underwriting and custody

FINRA has given leading tokenization firm Securitize the green light to vastly expand its broker-dealer activities and become the first “full stack onchain IPO” infrastructure provider.

This includes the ability to act as an underwriter for tokenized IPOs and secondary offerings, not unlike a traditional investment bank does for normal public offerings, but for blockchain-based securities.

“The underwriting and selling group approvals greatly enhance our capabilities to assist tokenizing securities during the IPO process,” Securitize President Brett Redfearn said. “The case for new and existing publicly traded companies to tokenize stock continues to get more compelling. We’re excited about what comes next.”

Securitize first signaled plans to facilitate tokenized shares late last year. Unlike some onchain equities, the firm’s Stocks on Securitize offering promised “real, regulated shares” that are recorded on an issuer’s cap table, and representative of full shareholder rights, including dividends and proxy voting.

The move comes amid booming interest in tokenization, including from major firms like the New York Stock Exchange. Some analysts expect tokenized assets to grow into the trillions of dollars over the next decade.

FINRA, or the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, is a non-governmental self-regulatory agency for brokers and dealers.

Closer custody

Notably, FINRA also granted Securitize approval to custody tokenized securities via its Securitize Markets broker-dealer subsidiary, which will facilitate atomic swaps between tokenized stocks and stablecoins. Securitize noted these transactions historically required “multi-step, operationally complex process across separate accounts and intermediaries.”

“Bringing custody of tokenized securities into the broker-dealer is a foundational unlock,” Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo said. “It allows us to facilitate atomic settlement transactions between securities and cash equivalents within our broker-dealer ATS, eliminating the need for fragmented processes and enabling markets to operate with the speed and efficiency of blockchain infrastructure within a regulated environment.”

Tokenization in general is said to expand the utility of equities. For instance, Currenc Group Inc. recently tapped Securitize to tokenize its stock, enabling round-the-clock trading, fractional ownership, and potential DeFi deployments.

Securitize claims to now be the first company to receive approval to custody tokenized securities in a regular broker-dealer. This was granted through FINRA’s Continuing Membership Application (CMA) process, designed to oversee broker-dealers when introducing new business capabilities.

The firm is in the process of going public via a SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners II to trade on Nasdaq under the CEPT ticker. That deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026.

Last week, Securitize partnered with the world’s largest transfer agent Computershare to enable publicly traded companies to issue tokenized versions of shares alongside traditional ones. The firm is also helping to develop NYSE’s 24/7 tokenized securities platform.