Nasdaq SEC Approval Paves Way for Blockchain Settlement

The approval of Nasdaq's proposal marks a significant shift towards the adoption of blockchain technology in traditional finance, with potential benefits including increased efficiency and reduced costs.

Under the new system, tokenized shares will share the same CUSIP identifiers, trading symbols, prices, and order books as traditional shares. Settlement will initially remain at T+1, but real-time atomic settlement is a stated long-term goal.

Nasdaq's integrated model preserves liquidity and minimizes disruption, but limits what tokenization can deliver. In contrast, the NYSE's parallel model risks temporary price discrepancies between venues but allows for genuinely new market structure.