Securitize Announces Blockchain-Based Shareholder Registry Infrastructure

Securitize has presented a blockchain-based shareholder registry as an infrastructure for enhancing communication between companies and investors in the stock market. This system not only tokenizes shares but also connects ownership records, dividends, voting rights, and other corporate actions on-chain. CEO Carlos Domingo stated that public shares are moving on-chain, and the structure where issuers participate directly is the direction of tokenization. Securitize began trading common shares under the ticker SECZ on the New York Stock Exchange on July 2. On the same day, it offered a tokenized form of common shares to qualified U.S. investors, with SECZ supported on Avalanche and Solana. However, the issuance scale of the tokenized SECZ has not been disclosed. In the traditional U.S. stock market, there are instances where issuers find it difficult to identify the ultimate investors. Utilizing on-chain records allows for the connection of stock ownership and transfer history to the blockchain, but it does not automatically replace existing shareholder registries. The SEC has stated that issuers can integrate on-chain records into their primary securities holder files. Not all tokenized shares carry the same rights, and if a third party unrelated to the issuer tokenizes them, actual ownership or voting rights may not be guaranteed. Securitize disclosed that the on-chain asset management scale for the second quarter was $4.3 billion.