How Will Securitize Enable Fully Onchain Trading of Public Stocks in 2026?

Starting in 2026, Securitize will allow people to buy and sell public company shares directly on a digital platform that records ownership securely and legally. This means investors can hold and trade stocks without relying on traditional middlemen.

What happened

Securitize announced plans to launch a fully onchain trading platform for real public stocks in early 2026. This platform will enable end-to-end blockchain-based issuance, custody, and trading of tokenized shares of public companies. The company has obtained regulatory approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to operate this platform, ensuring compliance with existing securities laws, although specific details of the approval are not publicly disclosed.

The platform leverages blockchain technology to tokenize shares, allowing these tokenized equities to be traded directly onchain without the need for traditional intermediaries such as clearinghouses or centralized exchanges. To maintain regulatory compliance and integrate with the current financial ecosystem, Securitize has partnered with established custodians and broker-dealers. These partnerships aim to balance blockchain’s benefits with existing market infrastructure requirements.

A pilot program began in late 2025 involving select exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tokenized onchain, demonstrating the feasibility of the technology and regulatory framework. The platform incorporates smart contracts that embed compliance rules directly, automating investor eligibility verification and transfer restrictions to meet regulatory standards.

One of the key technical innovations is the reduction of settlement times from the traditional trade date plus two days (T+2) cycle to near-instantaneous finality on the blockchain. This real-time settlement is expected to reduce counterparty risk and improve capital efficiency.

Independent analyses from Bloomberg Intelligence and the Financial Times emphasize the platform’s potential to enhance market transparency through immutable transaction records accessible to regulators and investors. They also highlight Securitize’s compliance-first approach, particularly its collaboration with broker-dealers and custodians, as critical in bridging blockchain technology with existing securities markets.

Why this matters

Securitize’s initiative represents a notable evolution in securities trading infrastructure by integrating blockchain technology with regulatory compliance and traditional financial intermediaries. By enabling fully onchain trading of public stocks, the platform could improve transparency through an immutable ledger that records every transaction, potentially making market data more accessible and verifiable for regulators and investors alike.

The embedding of compliance protocols into smart contracts automates investor verification and transfer restrictions, which could reduce operational risks and costs related to manual compliance checks. This automation may also lower barriers to participation by streamlining regulatory adherence.

Real-time settlement shortens the time between trade execution and final ownership transfer, reducing counterparty risk and freeing up capital that would otherwise be tied up during the standard T+2 settlement window. This could enhance market liquidity and operational efficiency.

Securitize’s approach also challenges the traditional role of intermediaries by enabling direct ownership and transfer of tokenized shares. However, the platform’s partnerships with custodians and broker-dealers suggest that rather than fully displacing traditional actors, it seeks to integrate blockchain benefits within the existing regulatory and operational framework.

Overall, this development signals a potential paradigm shift in how securities are issued, held, and traded, blending technological innovation with the regulatory rigor necessary for public markets.

What remains unclear

Despite these confirmed advances, several important questions remain unanswered. The precise scope and limitations of the SEC’s regulatory approval have not been publicly detailed. It is unclear whether the approval extends beyond the pilot ETF tokenization to all public stocks by 2026 or if further regulatory steps will be necessary.

Cross-border trading and compliance with securities regulations outside the U.S. are not addressed in the available information. This raises questions about how the platform will handle international investors and issuers or harmonize with foreign regulatory regimes.

The long-term impact on market liquidity and investor behavior once fully onchain trading is broadly adopted remains to be seen, as empirical data will only become available post-launch. Similarly, the ultimate industry structure—whether traditional intermediaries will be displaced, integrated, or transformed—is uncertain.

Potential cybersecurity risks inherent in a fully onchain trading environment and the mitigation strategies Securitize will deploy are not discussed in the sources. Given the critical nature of these systems, this represents a notable gap in the public understanding of platform resilience.

Finally, the anonymity of the ETF issuers participating in the pilot limits insight into the types of securities and market participants currently engaging with the platform.

What to watch next

Regulatory disclosures clarifying the full scope and conditions of the SEC approval, including whether all public stocks will be eligible for onchain trading in 2026.
Further details on how Securitize plans to address cross-border trading and compliance with non-U.S. jurisdictions.
Data and analysis from the pilot program’s performance, particularly on settlement efficiency, compliance automation, and market participant experience.
Updates on cybersecurity measures and risk mitigation strategies implemented to secure the onchain trading environment.
Industry responses from broker-dealers, custodians, and traditional exchanges regarding integration or competition with the new platform.

Securitize’s planned launch of fully onchain trading for public stocks in 2026 presents a complex interplay between blockchain innovation and established regulatory frameworks. While the platform promises increased transparency, automation, and efficiency, several critical questions about regulatory scope, international compliance, market dynamics, and security remain open. The coming months and years will be key to assessing how this model reshapes securities trading infrastructure.

Source: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2025/12/17/securitize-to-offer-first-fully-onchain-trading-for-real-public-stocks-in-early-2026. This article is based on verified research material available at the time of writing. Where information is limited or unavailable, this is stated explicitly.