Nasdaq’s proposal, first filed in Sept. 2025 and refined through multiple amendments, enables market participants to trade blockchain-based representations of securities under a pilot program tied to the Depository Trust Company (DTC). The SEC signed off on the rule March 18, 2026, concluding it aligns with federal securities laws and investor protection standards.

At its core, the change allows eligible participants to opt into tokenized settlement using a designated order flag, signaling that a trade should clear and settle in token form rather than through traditional book-entry systems. The mechanics may sound futuristic, but the exchange insists the experience will feel familiar—orders, routing, and execution remain unchanged.

Tokenized securities will trade on the same order book as their conventional counterparts, sharing identical execution priority, pricing, and trading symbols. In other words, no special treatment, no fast lane—just a different backend for settlement.

Eligibility is intentionally narrow at launch. The pilot will focus on securities within the Russell 1000 Index and select exchange-traded funds tied to major benchmarks like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100. Nasdaq plans to publish updates identifying which assets qualify as the rollout progresses.

Behind the scenes, the DTC plays a pivotal role. Once a trade is executed, Nasdaq relays tokenization instructions to DTC, which handles the minting and settlement of tokenized shares, including blockchain selection and wallet assignment. If anything in that chain breaks—say, an incompatible wallet—the system defaults back to traditional settlement without skipping a beat.

Despite the blockchain integration, Nasdaq emphasized that nearly every aspect of trading remains intact. Market data feeds will not distinguish between tokenized and non-tokenized shares, fees stay the same, and trades still settle on a T+1 basis. Even surveillance systems will treat both formats identically, relying on the same data streams monitored by Nasdaq and FINRA.

The SEC’s approval follows months of industry feedback that ranged from enthusiastic support to cautious skepticism. Some commenters flagged concerns about technical transparency, competitive fairness, and whether tokenized shares could diverge in price or rights from their traditional equivalents.

Regulators addressed those worries directly. To qualify, tokenized securities must be fully fungible with their traditional counterparts, carry the same CUSIP and ticker, and grant identical shareholder rights—including dividends, voting power, and claims on assets.

The Commission ultimately concluded that the proposal promotes fair and orderly markets while maintaining investor protections. It also stressed that tokenization must operate squarely within existing securities laws, not around them—a subtle but unmistakable boundary line.

Still, this is a pilot, not a full-scale reinvention. The infrastructure must be fully operational before launch, and Nasdaq will provide at least 30 days’ notice before tokenized trading goes live.

For now, the message is clear: tokenization has been invited into the club, but it’s expected to follow the house rules—no shortcuts, no special privileges, and certainly no rewriting the playbook overnight.

• What did the SEC approve?
  The SEC approved a Nasdaq rule allowing tokenized versions of stocks and ETFs to trade on its exchange.
• What are tokenized securities?
  They are blockchain-based digital representations of traditional securities with identical rights and value.
• Will tokenized shares trade differently?
  No, they trade on the same order book with the same pricing and execution priority as traditional shares.
• When will tokenized trading begin?
  Nasdaq will launch after infrastructure is ready and provide at least 30 days’ notice before going live.

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