Global Listings, 24-Hour Stock Trading? Analyzing the NYSE's On-Chain "Conspiracy"

Author: Crypto Salad

On February 3rd, the tokenization platform for real-world assets, Ondo Finance, made a high-profile announcement launching the “Ondo Global Listing” service, claiming it can bring U.S. stocks listed via IPO onto the blockchain in an “almost real-time” manner, enabling trading on major blockchains from the first day of listing.

This move not only aims to eliminate the “IPO time lag” between Wall Street and the crypto world but also, with its over $2.5 billion in assets under management and a total trading volume of $9 billion, demonstrates its ambition to transform from an “intermediary” to a “digital underwriter.”

However, no matter how high-profile or revolutionary Ondo is, it remains a “downstream breakthrough” initiated by native crypto protocols. The true limit of the U.S. stock tokenization wave will still be determined by traditional infrastructure giants. On January 19, 2026, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) officially announced that it is developing a platform for tokenized securities trading and on-chain settlement, and will seek the necessary approvals from regulators for this platform.

This news has sparked considerable discussion both in traditional finance circles and the crypto industry. Most people simplify it to one phrase — “NYSE is going to tokenize U.S. stocks.” Of course, this is correct, but it’s far from enough. If you only see this as “stocks going on-chain” or “traditional finance moving closer to Web3,” you miss the core. The NYSE’s move is actually a carefully thought-out institutional revolution.

Crypto Salad aims to start from this news itself and systematically analyze the current development process of U.S. stock tokenization. As the opening article in this series, we will specifically discuss what this major news entails and what impact it will have on the entire traditional U.S. stock industry.

1. What exactly does the NYSE announcement say?

According to the official NYSE announcement, the NYSE is not merely labeling stocks as “tokens.” Its core focus is not on a specific product but on a comprehensive re-examination and reconstruction of the entire securities trading system chain. Among these, we identify four core transformations, summarized as follows:

(1) 24/7 Trading

The distinction between crypto markets and traditional markets—specifically, 24/7 trading—is a well-known core difference. But the NYSE’s version of 24/7 trading is not simply extending trading hours; it emphasizes “post-trade” infrastructure. It aims to create a new digital platform that combines the existing matching engine (Pillar) with a blockchain-based post-trade system, enabling “trading, settlement, and custody” to operate continuously. In simple terms, the NYSE wants to develop new technological and institutional arrangements so that the settlement system can support continuous operation.

The reason traditional securities markets have long maintained fixed trading hours is that various processes—such as settlement and fund transfers—are highly dependent on bank business hours and clearing windows. The NYSE proposes using on-chain or tokenized funds tools to cover “non-business hours fund gaps,” thus activating the “night/weekend” market closure periods.

Whether round-the-clock trading is good or bad for financial markets and retail investors should be considered carefully. But for U.S. stocks themselves, it is undoubtedly more beneficial than harmful. After all, as the world’s most central asset pool, if trading hours remain fixed domestically, it limits further globalization and the development of a more liquid global asset base.

(2) Instant Settlement with Stablecoins

As mentioned earlier, the NYSE hopes to extend trading hours through new “on-chain or tokenized funds tools.” One of the core tools here is settlement.

The NYSE’s official announcement uses terms like “instant settlement” and “stablecoin-based funding,” explicitly stating that the platform will use a “blockchain-based post-trade system” to achieve on-chain settlement. Here, two key points should be noted:

• First, the NYSE is not merely proposing a basic idea like “buying stocks with stablecoins,” but aims for stablecoins to become tools for settlement and margin management.
• Second, “instant settlement” means evolving the traditional T+1 delivery process into near real-time trading.

The most direct effect of this is to avoid risks arising from the time gap between trading and settlement. The NYSE specifically mentions collaborating with BNY Mellon and Citibank to promote “tokenized deposits,” aiming to enable clearing members to transfer and manage funds, meet margin requirements, and handle cross-timezone and cross-jurisdictional fund needs even outside banking hours.

(3) Fractional Stock Trading

Having discussed the infrastructure innovation, let’s consider the biggest benefits (especially for non-U.S. investors).

The narrative of U.S. stock tokenization has developed over time, and we’ve analyzed many times the benefits and risks of fractional shares. But this NYSE announcement is the first official mention of “fractional stock trading.” The news states that the platform hopes to change the trading unit from the traditional “1 share” to a more “asset allocation by amount” unit. For example, Tesla’s current market cap is around $400 per share. Small retail investors can’t afford or can’t buy at that price, but in the future, if they can spend $10 to buy 0.025 shares of Tesla on the new platform, isn’t that very attractive?

Of course, making retail investors happy is not the NYSE’s main goal. Redefining the minimum tradable unit of securities to fit tokenization and on-chain settlement means a lot.

This move has several impacts. First, the way market making and liquidity provision will change dramatically, as liquidity will no longer only revolve around whole shares but will be reconstructed around other standards (such as amount). Second, when the platform allows “tokenized stocks and traditional securities to be interchangeable,” fractional shares make it easier to clear, exchange, and connect different forms of the same asset across systems. This may sound abstract, but it’s akin to breaking cash into change and unifying currency, enabling transactions and exchanges across different stores.

In this structural adjustment, the significance of fractional trading is redefined. Historically, fractional shares have been seen as a “convenience feature” for retail investors. But in this context, they are more like a prerequisite in financial engineering. Only when assets can be standardized and divided can they achieve greater composability, routability, and programmability, and be integrated into automated clearing and on-chain settlement systems. In other words, fractional shares are not just about “making more affordable,” but about providing the technical foundation for digital circulation of assets.

(4) Native Digital Securities (Native Issuance)

Regarding the concept of “native digital securities,” the NYSE also provides a clear boundary. Its goal is not to simply map existing stocks onto on-chain certificates like Nasdaq, but to explore a form of securities that originate from and operate entirely on-chain from the point of rights confirmation.

This means that dividends, voting rights, and corporate governance mechanisms are embedded directly into the lifecycle of digital securities, rather than patched onto them through off-chain rules. This is not just a technical upgrade but a redefinition of how securities exist.

Once native issuance is permitted, the processes of rights confirmation, shareholder registry, dividends, voting, governance, and restrictions on custody and transfer all need to be redesigned. An even more attractive point is that the NYSE limits distribution channels to qualified broker-dealers, preemptively addressing regulatory concerns: this is not a “wild token market” where retail investors can freely mint and circulate tokens, but a system that retains order, thresholds, and oversight.

2. Why now?

Why now? Why is the NYSE proposing such “radical” reforms at this particular moment?

Any innovative financial product that truly moves toward mainstream markets ultimately depends not on how compelling the narrative is, but on whether the underlying system is robust enough to withstand large-scale, low-tolerance capital inflows.

In recent years, there has been no shortage of discussions about “on-chain,” “decentralization,” and “efficiency revolution.” But these discussions have not been widely applied in practice because they often rely on immature foundations of funding, clearing, and risk control.

The NYSE is very clever in that it does not attempt to run a blockchain system solely centered on itself. Instead, it embeds tokenization into existing market infrastructure.

Its parent company, ICE, is collaborating with traditional core banks like BNY Mellon and Citibank to support tokenized deposits and related financial tools within its clearinghouse system. This arrangement allows clearing members to transfer funds, meet margin requirements, and manage risk exposures even outside banking hours, providing practical liquidity support for 24/7 trading.

What Crypto Salad wants to emphasize here is that once funds themselves are tokenized, we are no longer talking about “concept assets,” but about “money” itself. Therefore, regulation, risk management, and access standards must be elevated to a very high level; otherwise, the system cannot earn the trust of mainstream society.

For this reason, the NYSE’s market structure does not attempt to “reinvent the wheel.” The platform emphasizes “non-discriminatory access” within a compliant framework, but this non-discrimination always has boundaries—it is only open to qualified broker-dealers. All trading activities remain embedded within existing market structures and regulatory logic, not outside or beyond them. So, the future stable players will not be new “counterparties,” but the infrastructure that can operate within a compliant trading system, supporting user understanding, asset allocation, and trading entry points.

Under the influence of broader trends, occupying an ecosystem position and controlling on-chain liquidity entry points has become an essential battleground for platforms like Ondo, Kraken, MSX, and others. This race involves not only Ondo’s native crypto giants but also platforms like MSX, which are deeply involved in the U.S. stock tokenization niche, building their defenses through high-frequency screening and launching new derivative products. For smaller and more agile players, as long as they can establish a foothold in this wave, the future potential is enormous.

Meanwhile, tokenization does not alter the legal nature of securities. Tokenized shareholders still legally enjoy the same dividend rights and governance rights as traditional securities. This point is considered crucial in discussions: when a product aims to enter the mainstream capital markets, clarity of rights and secure rights confirmation are far more important than the technical path itself.

From a macro perspective, what the NYSE is trying to solve is not just trading efficiency but the long-standing problem of liquidity fragmentation in traditional markets. By combining “high-trust institutional arrangements” with “more efficient technical means,” it hopes to bring those trading demands that previously flowed into dark pools, OTC structures, or unregulated platforms back into a transparent, auditable, and accountable system. A recurring consensus in the meetings is that truly cycle-resistant innovation is often not the most radical but those that can withstand the strictest scrutiny at the regulatory and infrastructure levels. Once such a structure proves feasible, the entry of traditional capital will not be a barrier but an accelerator.

From a legal perspective, this process’s deeper significance is not just a technological upgrade but a phased evolution of capital formation methods. Through on-chain clearing and custody, traditional financial institutions can, without overturning existing securities laws and regulatory frameworks, achieve more global and continuous asset allocation. This is not about “the old system being replaced by new technology,” but about integrating new technology into the core and most rigorous operational logic of the old system—precisely the prerequisite for mainstream finance to accept a new form.