NYSE tests tokenized settlement; DTC pilot clears live trades

New York Stock Exchange President Lynn Martin said on Aug. 10 that the exchange is continuing to develop infrastructure for onchain settlement of tokenized securities, months after outlining plans for a dedicated digital trading platform.

Speaking at a National Assembly seminar in Seoul, Martin also confirmed NYSE participated in The Depository Trust Company's July tokenization initiative. The remarks provide a fresh update on a project that has moved from an early development announcement into live industry testing.

NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange first disclosed the platform on Jan. 19. The planned venue is designed to combine NYSE's Pillar matching engine with blockchain based post trade infrastructure. ICE said it would support 24/7 trading, immediate settlement, fractional shares, dollar denominated orders and stablecoin funding.

Subject to regulatory approvals, the separate digital venue would support both tokenized versions of traditional securities and securities issued natively in tokenized form. Holders would retain conventional dividend and governance rights. The system is also being designed to support multiple blockchain networks for settlement and custody.

Martin said NYSE participated in DTC's tokenization pilot in July. DTCC independently confirmed NYSE among more than 30 financial and digital asset companies involved in live production transactions completed on July 15. Participants also included BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Nasdaq, Circle, Ondo Finance, Citadel Securities and Vanguard.

The DTCC release said the exercise converted securities held at DTC into tokenized representations and used them in real transactions. Tests covered equity delivery versus payment, Treasury and repo transactions, securities lending, collateral pledges, equity transfers and central counterparty margin processes. The transactions ran across DTCC's private Besu network and the public Canton network.

The July work used DTC's production environment and followed a December 2025 SEC staff no action letter permitting DTC to operate a three year tokenization program under specified conditions. DTCC plans to launch its broader Tokenization Service in October.

NYSE has also taken a separate regulatory step. An April SEC filing established rules allowing eligible securities to trade in tokenized form on NYSE during DTC's pilot program. The filing became effective upon submission under the applicable SEC rule process.

Under that framework, tokenized shares can trade alongside traditional shares on the same order book when they have the same ticker, CUSIP, rights and privileges. Eligible securities include Russell 1000 components and exchange traded funds tracking major indexes. The tokenization choice does not alter order priority.

There is an important distinction between that framework and NYSE's planned dedicated digital venue. Trades handled through the current DTC pilot continue settling on a T+1 basis, according to the SEC filing. By contrast, NYSE's separately announced digital platform is intended to support immediate settlement and 24/7 trading and remains subject to regulatory approvals described by ICE.

NYSE has also been building the infrastructure around the proposed venue. In March, it signed an agreement with Securitize, naming the company as the first digital transfer agent eligible to mint blockchain native securities for issuers on the upcoming platform. Securitize Markets is also expected to participate as a broker dealer, subject to applicable requirements.

The next concrete milestone is DTCC's planned October launch of its Tokenization Service following July's production transactions. NYSE's April rules also state that the exchange will provide members at least 30 calendar days of notice before beginning tokenized trading under the DTC pilot framework.

For the separate 24/7 digital platform, ICE has not replaced its original qualification that the venue is subject to regulatory approvals. Martin's Seoul remarks instead show that NYSE continues pursuing the project while testing tokenized market infrastructure through DTC.

ICE has an Alpha Score of 50/100, labeled Mixed, in the Financials sector. JPMorgan, another DTC pilot participant, carries an Alpha Score of 52/100, also Mixed, and trades at $357.52, up 0.34% on the session. Goldman Sachs, also in the pilot, scores 48/100, labeled Mixed.