Formation Securities notifies SEC of plans to operate the first tokenized securities trading venue on Solana.

November 9 - According to The Block, Formation Securities announced it has notified the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of its intention to operate the first tokenized securities trading venue on Solana. The company plans to conduct conditional secondary trading of eligible tokenized stocks through permissioned automated market maker liquidity pools at a qualified venue under the SEC's innovation exemption, targeting a launch in early 2027, with tokenized stocks of Exodus Movement, Forward Industries, and Galaxy Digital among the initial listings.

The aforementioned tokenized stocks will be offered to verified investors through channels including Superstate, Securities, Formation Securities' own platform, and other distribution channels such as Alpaca, with custodians including Anchorage and BitGo Bank. Formation stated that it chose Solana for its reliability, speed, and low cost, and that the network already supports over $5 billion in tokenized real-world assets. The tokenized stocks will carry the same voting rights and dividend rights as other shareholders, allowing investors to trade around the clock with stablecoins and other eligible assets, with atomic on-chain settlement.

This news follows the announcement by OKXICE, a joint venture between crypto trading platform OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, that it will trade tokenized stocks under the same innovation exemption. The venue has not yet launched, and 67 companies have already objected to their stocks being tokenized and traded on the platform. Formation stated it will advance the initiative together with issuers. Christopher Montagano, President of Formation Securities, said that tokenized stocks will only succeed when listed companies see their value, and that the company hopes to provide issuers and investors with a new transparent market supporting trading outside traditional hours and faster on-chain settlement while preserving shareholders' key rights in traditional finance. Formation was formed last month through the merger of Solana ecosystem decentralized trading platforms Orca and Loopscale, and stated it has been collaborating with Figure, Shinhan Asset Management, Superstate, R3, and Securitize.