Securitize tapped to tokenize Currenc’s ordinary shares

Securitize has been tapped to tokenize shares for the Nasdaq-listed firm Currenc Group Inc., according to an announcement on Wednesday.

With the move, the tokenized shares are expected to be available for 24/7 trading and fractional ownership, with the potential for deployment in DeFi protocols and algorithmic strategies, the announcement said.

“This is about more than putting shares on a blockchain,” Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo said. “We are working toward a market structure where public equities can move globally, trade more efficiently, and become more interoperable with the next generation of financial infrastructure.”

Currenc is the first firm to announce tokenization plans through Securitize since the firm was tapped by the New York Stock Exchange to help build its 24/7 tokenized securities platform.

Securitize has been a pioneer in the tokenization space, and is the firm behind the origination of approximately 70% of the U.S. tokenization market, including some of the largest onchain RWAs like BlackRock’s BUIDL fund. It was also behind the initial onchain deployment of Exodus Movement Inc. shares in 2024.

Exodus is often cited as the first U.S. firm to offer blockchain-based digital representations of its Class A common shares when it tapped Securitize to issue EXOD on Algorand. However, the firm has since gone on to use SuperState on further cross-chain deployments.

Competitive landscape

SuperState’s Opening Bell platform has won several major publicly listed clients, having tokenized shares for Galaxy and digital asset treasury firms Forward (FWDI), on Solana, and SharpLink (SBET), on Ethereum.

Unlike many onchain equities, which are essentially custodial wrappers that track actual stocks, tokens launched with Opening Bell are actual SEC-registered securities with full legal ownership and voting rights, dividend entitlements, and CUSIP markers as recorded by SuperState’s transfer agent.

Securitize has also been working toward native tokenization. The firm hinted late last year that it had found a legal avenue to offer “real, regulated shares” through its Direct Issuance product. It has since been named as the first digital transfer agent in the NYSE’s tokenized securities initiative.

Last year, FG Nexus said it was creating an onchain dividend-paying preferred equity (FGNXP), using Securitize’s SEC-registered broker-dealer, Alternative Trading System (ATS), and transfer agent services.

“With Currenc, we are continuing to show what issuer-led tokenization can look like when the token represents the real security and the company is actively involved in the process,” Domingo said.

Currenc, a fintech company focused on cross-border payments, e-wallet infrastructure, and AI-powered enterprise tools, is working on a proposed reverse merger with Animoca Brands.

Securitize itself is looking to go public in the near future through a SPAC deal sponsored by Cantor Fitzgerald. Benchmark initiated coverage on Securitize in March, assigning a buy rating and a $16 price target to the asset expected to list on the Nasdaq under SECZ.