Securitize, Computershare to Offer Tokenized U.S. Shares

Securitize and Computershare on Wednesday announced an agreement to let U.S. publicly traded companies issue tokenized versions of their shares alongside traditional stock. The arrangement allows issuers to add Issuer-Sponsored Tokens, or ISTs, without altering existing capital structures or share registries.

Securitize says ISTs represent the actual underlying equity in token form rather than derivatives or wrappers. The company said the tokens can exist alongside shares held through the Direct Registration System while the issuer maintains its current registry and shareholder records.

Computershare, the world's largest transfer agent, will continue to manage registries and transfers under the arrangement. Computershare oversees records for close to 60% of the S&P 500, a scale that could affect large-cap companies if tokenized shares are adopted more broadly.

Market participants and infrastructure firms have been developing tokenization projects for more than a year. Regulators have authorized initiatives that support tokenized trading, and trading venues are building systems to handle tokenized securities. Broker-dealers and crypto trading firms have expressed interest in offering extended-hours access or 24/7 trading for tokenized U.S. equities.

Securitize has worked with a Nasdaq-listed issuer to tokenize its shares and is assisting the New York Stock Exchange on a 24/7 tokenized securities platform. The agreement gives listed companies an additional option for issuing, holding and transferring equity while preserving existing shareholder rights and corporate governance.

Carlos Domingo, founder and CEO of Securitize, wrote on X that his firm has become Computershare's “tokenization partner to bring stocks on-chain natively in the U.S. and abroad” and posted “Tokenize the world.” Ciarán Fitzpatrick, JPMorgan's global head of ETF product, has argued tokenization should drive change across ETFs and the funds industry.

Both companies said the IST model is designed to operate within current legal and compliance frameworks and to integrate blockchain-based ownership records with transfer-agent functions and regulatory reporting. They also noted open questions remain about custody, settlement, broker-dealer participation and how existing investor protections will map to on-chain records.

Issuers and market intermediaries are expected to run pilots to test trading platforms, custody arrangements and investor access before any wider rollout.