The Nasdaq stock exchange is prioritizing approval of tokenized shares, and its head of digital asset strategy, Matt Savarese, is hopeful that the SEC process will be completed without delay.
The official application for permission to trade tokenized securities was submitted almost three months ago. The tokens will represent actual shares of listed companies.
The exchange aims to avoid fragmentation of liquidity or the creation of separate pools that could shrink during periods of volatility. Therefore, the trading side will remain unchanged—the same order book, execution standards, and regulatory framework will apply to both traditional and tokenized securities.
According to Savarese, the short-term benefits are focused on internal settlement processes. Tokenized shares can settle faster than the current system, potentially achieving instant or atomic settlement over time.
Galaxy Digital became the first Nasdaq-listed company to tokenize its shares in September 2025, issuing Class A common shares on the blockchain. SolanaThis move allowed shareholders to store and transfer their shares on the blockchain while retaining all rights registered with the SEC.
«We’re kind of pioneers in this ecosystem,» Savarese said. «When everything moved from paper to electronic, we were the ones who applied it to the markets…»