Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman believes billions of dollars are trapped in clearinghouses and traditional brokerage systems, and that tokenization could unlock this capital by speeding up settlements and making collateral more mobile. In September 2025, Nasdaq filed a proposal with the SEC to enable trading and tokenized settlement of equities and ETFs on its main markets, while keeping the existing DTCC infrastructure with an optional routing to digital wallets. In March 2026, Nasdaq launched an equity token design framework prioritizing issuer choice and regulatory equivalence. The exchange is not launching a new cryptocurrency but using blockchain technology to improve existing equity and securities frameworks while maintaining regulatory compliance and investor protections.
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