After months of regulatory review, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has cleared Nasdaq to implement a tokenized stock trading and payments system.
This measure, approved on March 18, 2026, marks the beginning of a transition phase that will test the efficiency of blockchain within the rigors of Wall Street.
This progress is being demonstrated through a three-year pilot program managed by the Depository Trust Company (DTC), one of the most important organizations in the U.S. financial system.
Under this system, Investors will be able to choose digital versions of selected securities. Although they operate on a distributed ledger, they retain the legal identity of their traditional counterparts and share the same ticker symbol and shareholder rights.
The final approval follows two important amendments submitted by Nasdaq to ensure market oversight and fraud prevention are maintained in the digital environment.
System operation relies on hybrid integration. By entering orders at the Nasdaq Market Center, participants To select tokenization options, Blockchain and digital wallet addresses.
Once the operation is performed, Nasdaq sends instructions to DTC. DTC is responsible for issuing (minting) tokens and settling transactions on a T+1 (operation date + 1 business day) cycle, which is the standard US settlement cycle.
“This proposal will become effective once DTC establishes the necessary infrastructure and post-trade settlement services,” the exchange said in an approved document.
In the event of technical incompatibility or lack of registration of a digital address, the system has security mechanisms that revert payments to traditional formats. The idea behind this is to prevent work from becoming a dead end.
Unlike the volatile nature of the crypto ecosystem, this effort is being seen in Washington as a controlled experiment.
Financial analysts agreed in a previous pilot test that the measure would validate the utility of real asset (RWA) tokenization without compromising investor protection. The SEC has emphasized that this model maintains oversight and compliance with applicable securities laws.
The market is currently awaiting technical implementation, scheduled for the second half of 2026. Nasdaq has promised to give traders at least 30 days’ warning.
This approval will occur at Consensus within organizations on tokenization is growingas reported by CriptoNoticias. At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2026, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink advocated accelerating tokenization on a “common blockchain” to reduce costs, friction, corruption, and enable instant movement of capital between assets.