Nasdaq CEO says tokenization could unlock billions in trapped capital
Image: Crypto BriefingNasdaq CEO Adena Friedman said tokenization could unlock billions in capital trapped in clearinghouses and traditional brokerage systems. She has discussed the approach at multiple 2025 and 2026 industry conferences. Nasdaq filed a September 2025 SEC proposal for tokenized equity and ETF trading, and released an equity token design framework in March 2026. The company plans to launch Nasdaq Equity Tokens for public company shares next year.
Key points
- Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman has publicly stated tokenization can unlock trapped capital in traditional financial systems.
- Nasdaq has developed an equity token design framework and plans to launch public company equity tokens soon.
- Tokenization is framed as a way to make capital and collateral more fluid across financial institutions.
Why it matters
Tokenized equities could enable 24/7 trading for retail investors and free capital held in traditional settlement processes for other uses.
What's unclear
The estimated amount of capital tokenization could unlock varies between reports: one cites billions, the other tens of billions.
The approval status of Nasdaq's September 2025 SEC tokenization proposal is not confirmed in either report.
Sources · 2 publishers
Crypto Briefing
Tier 2
NASDAQ CEO: Blockchain tokenization to transform global finance, unlock billions
CoinCentral
Tier 3
Nasdaq CEO Reveals How Tokenization Could Unlock Billions in Capital
Coverage timeline
- First reported by Crypto Briefing
- Confirmed by CoinCentral
- CryptoVideos brief published
How this brief was made. Our system found this event in 2 independent publications, summarised two complete reports with AI and checked every number above against the source text. Sources are linked in full. Not financial advice. Report an error
