BlackRock-backed Securitize and share registrar Computershare have taken a major step toward bringing pieces of the roughly $70 trillion U.S. equity market onto blockchain rails by enabling tokenized versions of listed shares.
Under a new arrangement, U.S. issuers will be able to offer Issuer-Sponsored Tokens (ISTs) alongside their existing shares, giving investors the choice to hold stock either through traditional custodial systems or directly in a digital wallet. The move is designed to marry tokenization’s technical benefits — faster, wallet-based ownership and settlement — with the legal and operational framework that governs public markets today.
Central to the plan is the role of transfer agents. Computershare, which serves more than 25,000 companies and acts as transfer agent for roughly 58% of the S&P 500, will perform the same duties for tokenized shares as it does for conventional ones: maintaining shareholder records and processing corporate events such as dividends and stock splits across both formats. By integrating tokenized securities at the transfer-agent layer, the partners aim to sidestep a frequent crypto workaround in which tokens merely represent claims on shares rather than the shares themselves.
Securitize supplies the blockchain infrastructure that mints and manages the ISTs, though the blockchain element is intentionally kept behind the scenes. “ISTs do not rely on derivative tokens that sit on top of underlying shares,” Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo said, emphasizing that the tokens are designed to provide direct equity ownership in token form rather than layered derivatives.
The structure also preserves a crucial requirement for public companies: control over their shareholder base. “Our focus has been to empower U.S.-listed companies to issue tokenized equity while retaining control,” said Ann Bowering, CEO of issuer services at Computershare North America.
Taken together, the effort represents a meaningful step in aligning traditional Wall Street infrastructure with crypto-native tooling — offering issuers and investors new ways to hold and move shares while keeping compliance and corporate governance squarely in issuer hands.
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