The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and crypto exchange Blockchain.com have signed a memorandum of understanding to list tokenised stocks, Bitcoin Magazine, a blockchain media outlet, reported on Sept. 23 local time.

If regulators approve, Blockchain.com users would be able to trade tokenised versions of U.S.-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on an NYSE digital alternative trading system under preparation.

The focus of the cooperation is to move traditional securities-market assets onto blockchain-based trading infrastructure. The NYSE is building a platform that would allow around-the-clock trading of tokenised versions of U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and has said settlement would also be handled on blockchain.

Blockchain.com said the link would expand investment opportunities in U.S. equity-type digital assets for its global user base. Peter Smith (피터 스미스), co-founder and CEO of Blockchain.com, said opportunities to own stocks should not be limited by where people live, the brokerages they can access or the information available to them. He said connecting to the NYSE digital alternative trading system could expand such digital-asset investment opportunities to tens of millions of users worldwide.

The NYSE also stressed combining the trust of traditional finance with the accessibility of digital assets. Lynn Martin (린 마틴), president of NYSE Group, said the future of capital markets depends on institutions that combine the trust of traditional finance with the innovation and accessibility of digital assets.

The announcement comes as Wall Street broadens its touchpoints with bitcoin and related infrastructure. Intercontinental Exchange, the NYSE's parent, has said it invested in crypto exchange OKX earlier this year. Traditional finance firms are paying particular attention to the tokenisation potential of assets such as stocks, and large financial firms including BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have for years used blockchain infrastructure to tokenise money market funds.

The regulatory environment is also changing. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week approved trading in tokenised stocks. Market expansion is also being cited as linked to regulators supervising markets more favourably since the launch of the pro-crypto Donald Trump administration.

Link-ups around tokenised-asset trading are also continuing. In January, S&P 500 approved the crypto platform Trade[XYZ] to introduce a new derivatives contract on a decentralised exchange, Hyperliquid. As a result, traders were able to trade the stock index 24 hours a day. Last month, Payward, the parent of Kraken, and fintech firm SoFi Technologies announced an agreement to route SoFi customers' crypto orders to Kraken's institutional trading platform and to list SoFi's stablecoin on the exchange.

That means whether the agreement leads to an actual service launch will depend on regulatory approval and the pace at which the NYSE builds its digital trading infrastructure. Still, as traditional exchanges and crypto exchanges jointly designed a distribution route for tokenised stocks, the move for blockchain-based trading of stocks and ETFs to enter regulated markets has become more likely to accelerate.