On Wednesday, Securitize announced a partnership with Computershare, the leading transfer agent globally, to issue securities in tokenized form. This collaboration will enable numerous companies on Wall Street to distribute digital stock representations on-chain.
Through this agreement, issuers can provide shareholders with Issuer-Sponsored Tokens (ISTs), allowing these assets to exist alongside traditional securities within the cryptosphere, according to an announcement.
Computershare currently functions as a transfer agent for 58% of the S&P 500 companies, facilitating interactions between issuing firms and shareholders by processing share ownership changes and distributing dividends.
Securitize has released tokenized assets across over 15 blockchains, including Ethereum and Solana. The company is poised to expand ISTs wherever issuers desire, a source familiar with the deal revealed to Decrypt.
As part of Computershare’s initiative into tokenization, investors will gain on-chain access to major tech firms like Apple, Tesla, and Nvidia, noted Securitize co-founder and CEO Carlos Domingo in an Xpost. He emphasized that these tokens maintain the same rights and economics as traditional shares but allow for on-chain borrowing.
The S&P 500 stocks represent roughly 80% of the U.S. equity market’s total value, according to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis data, potentially unlocking trillions in on-chain value. The agreement will support shares maintained through Computershare’s Direct Registration System, registered under individuals’ names.
This marks a significant move towards blockchain-based financial systems, following Securitize’s recent partnership with the New York Stock Exchange to create a platform enabling 24/7 securities trading.
“Our focus has been to empower U.S.-listed companies to issue tokenized equity while confidently retaining control over their issued capital,” stated Ann Bowering, Computershare CEO of Issuer Services, North America, in a statement.
By partnering with Computershare, 10,000 public U.S. companies can transition capital on-chain, said Graham Ferguson, head of ecosystem at Securitize, during an Xpost. The Miami-based company has become a prominent figure in the tokenization sector over time.
Securitize developed BlackRock’s $2.6 billion-valued tokenized money market fund, BUIDL, as per RWA.xyz data, and has distributed $4.3 billion worth of assets on-chain since its inception in 2017.
Backed by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and COO Rob Goldstein recently declared tokenization to be “the next major evolution in market infrastructure,” echoing sentiments from as early as 2022.