Nasdaq recently submitted a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to support the trading of tokenised securities on its markets – as reported here. Decentralised finance (DeFi) publication, The Defiant, assessed the move in this analytical piece through the lens of industry insiders, calling it both a “challenge” for the infrastructure and a “breakthrough” for blockchain.
The Defiant report points out that should Nasdaq’s filing get approved, it would mark the first time tokenised securities are listed on a major US exchange. While some experts cautioned that integrating blockchain settlement could be more costly and complex than expected, others were excited about what the move could mean for blockchain’s credibility.
Not an easy task
The Defiant spoke to Eli Cohen, general counsel at Centrifuge, a platform for tokenised real-world assets. Cohen pointed out that a new settlement layer will be required for trades of tokenised equities, which Nasdaq seems to assume that the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) will build. “This will be costly to do for DTCC and bring little or no financial benefit as DTCC already settles 100 per cent of on-exchange equities trades for the US market.”
Other experts agreed that there will be regulatory hurdles. Karia Samaroo, CEO of decentralised AI technology firm xTAO, predicted that it would be difficult to maintain the decentralised nature of the underlying blockchain while integrating the tokenised assets into Nasdaq’s legacy infrastructure.
Kevin Rusher, founder of real-world asset (RWA) borrowing and lending protocol RAAC, believed that Nasdaq’s choice of blockchain would be critical. A permissioned chain would allow greater control of risks compared to a public one like Ethereum.
The bright side
Morgan Krupetsky, VP of Onchain Finance at blockchain platform builder Ava Labs was more optimistic. The Defiance quotes him: “It’s exciting to see this because it means plugging in tokenised offerings with traditional distribution channels, which already have individuals and businesses leveraging that infrastructure – in this case, Nasdaq.”
According to Krupetsky, Nasdaq’s move “underscores the importance of ensuring tokenised equities provide the same shareholder rights as traditional stocks”.
Despite her reservations, Samaroo agreed that the step is a big win for the industry. “Increasingly, they (tokenised equities) are becoming valuable assets for institutions. Gaining recognition from a legacy name like Nasdaq fosters even more public trust and institutional adoption for the overall crypto industry.”
