Paris-based Lise (Lightning Stock Exchange) has become the first company in Europe to be authorized to operate a fully tokenized stock exchange, the company announced on Thursday.
According to a press release, the exchange, which targets the French SME IPO market, has received a DLT TSS license from French financial regulator ACPR under the EU’s distributed ledger technology pilot scheme.
Developed with input from Banque de France, ESMA, AMF and the European Central Bank, this authorization allows Lise to combine the roles of a Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) and a Central Securities Depository (CSD) within one digital framework.
Lise’s shareholders include CACEIS (a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole Group), BNP Paribas and Bpifrance. The tokenization-friendly exchange targets French companies with a market capitalization of less than 500 million euros ($582 million) and requires that at least half of the issuers be small and medium-sized companies with a valuation of less than 200 million euros.
“This license enables us to operate Europe’s first fully tokenized stock exchange, directly addressing real-world funding challenges,” said Mark Kepenegyan, CEO of Lise.
Lise plans to list its first SME and mid-cap IPO in early 2026, focusing on sectors such as energy, infrastructure and defense.
For investors, this model could make exposure to smaller European growth companies easier and more transparent. For policymakers, this is a test case for using blockchain technology to simplify and modernize capital markets.