Original article | Odaily Odaily( @OdailyChina )
Author｜Azuma ( @azuma_eth )
Last night, a major announcement ignited the cryptocurrency market – the NYSE officially announced the launch of a tokenized securities trading and on-chain settlement platform that supports 24/7 trading.
- Odaily Note: For details, please refer to " NYSE plans to launch 24/7 stock tokenization trading, leaving competitors bewildered ".
In short, the NYSE's on-chain stock tokenization solution mainly includes the following three aspects:
- This is a tokenized securities trading and on-chain settlement platform that plans to support 24/7 trading of US stocks and ETFs, fractional share trading, stablecoin-based fund settlement, and instant delivery, and will combine the NYSE’s existing matching engine with a blockchain settlement system.
- According to the NYSE's plan, tokenized stocks will have the same dividends and governance rights as traditional securities.
- NYSE's parent company, ICE, is also collaborating with banking giants such as BNY Mellon and Citibank to explore tokenized deposit and clearing infrastructure to support cross-time zone, 24/7 fund and margin management.
While many key design aspects of the platform remain unknown, based on the information available, we can make preliminary guesses about the market impact of this shift—especially which businesses in the cryptocurrency world will be directly benefited or harmed by the entry of a major player like the NYSE.
Speculation on positive business
Hypothesis 1: US-compliant stablecoins (such as USDC)
The NYSE explicitly mentioned in its announcement that it will introduce "stablecoin-based fund settlement." This will directly introduce a top-tier new application scenario for stablecoins , driving their adoption in the stock market—the world's largest and most mainstream asset trading market—and stimulating demand for stablecoin issuance and trading.
However, it should be noted that as a compliant platform, the NYSE will inevitably only choose US-compliant stablecoins under the GENIUS regulatory system . Although it is not yet certain which stablecoin the NYSE will adopt, Circle, which is currently the leader in the US compliance system, is the most likely candidate.
Hypothesis 2: Crypto-stock futures trading platforms (such as Hyperliquid)
This speculation is based on the premise that the NYSE's tokenized stock trading platform does not support leveraged trading—at least not mentioned in the current announcements.
The market demand for leverage will always exist. Even if the NYSE does not offer leverage services, some users with a higher risk appetite will still choose to open positions on cryptocurrency and stock contract trading platforms that support leverage.
Previously, a major problem faced by such platforms was that while their platforms naturally supported 24/7 trading, the stock market still followed traditional opening trading hours, resulting in a mismatch in hedging windows. This objectively limited the entry of market makers and the accumulation of liquidity . However, once the NYSE's tokenized stock trading platform supports 24/7 trading, this problem will be solved.
Hypothesis 3: Cash-and-carry arbitrage agreements (such as Ethena)
Tokenized stocks, as a new asset class, will expand the underlying asset selection for cash-and-carry arbitrage protocols such as Ethena.
The biggest challenge faced by such agreements in the past was the lack of top-tier assets with sufficient liquidity and strong consensus in the market. For example, Ethena felt it had reached a bottleneck after only selecting BTC, ETH, and SOL . The entry of the NYSE is expected to introduce more top-tier assets to the cryptocurrency market . Coupled with contract trading services based on these assets, more arbitrage opportunities will be unlocked.
Hypothesis 4: The selected infrastructure (such as public blockchains, oracles, etc.)
Introducing stocks into on-chain trading in the form of tokens will inevitably rely on infrastructure such as public blockchains (underlying networks) and oracles (quoting services). However, who will ultimately get a share of this pie depends heavily on which service the NYSE chooses.
In this respect, resource capabilities in the traditional financial world may be more important than the first-mover advantage in the current cryptocurrency native market.
Negative business speculation
Hypothesis 1: Crypto-stock issuance platform
Currently, most native cryptocurrency issuance platforms in the industry use a mapping mechanism, which always poses certain security risks and profit distribution issues.
The entry of the NYSE will not only bring more robust backing to tokenized stocks, but it has also made it clear that "tokenized stocks will have the same dividends and governance rights as traditional securities." The latter will directly deal a devastating blow to some of the industry's original tokenized stock issuance platforms.
Hypothesis 2: Crypto-stock spot trading platform
There's not much to say about this; it's like being directly attacked by a regular army in a core scenario.
However, these cryptocurrency-equity spot trading platforms are not without a way out. Possible solutions include, but are not limited to: advancing an offshore strategy to extend services to groups that NYSE stock tokenization platforms cannot reach; and introducing contract trading services.
The situation has changed, but opportunities still exist.
Overall, the NYSE's launch of a 24/7 tokenized stock trading and on-chain settlement platform will indeed have a direct impact on some native cryptocurrency businesses, but this does not mean that the event constitutes a systemic negative for the cryptocurrency industry as a whole. The key is to distinguish between "what is being replaced" and "what remains."
From a business perspective, the NYSE's move clearly aims to bring the "stock tokenization trading" market back into the traditional financial system. This undoubtedly means intensified competition and a significant reduction in some narratives. However, at the same time, some of the cryptocurrency industry's true strengths, which are difficult for traditional finance to fully replicate in the short term, will be further amplified —including stablecoin systems for 24/7 settlement, contract trading driven by high volatility and leverage, and on-chain financial engineering capabilities represented by cash-futures arbitrage and structured strategies.
The arrival of change is a foregone conclusion. Competition will certainly intensify, but opportunities will also exist.
