Crypto

Formation Plans Solana Venue for Tokenised US Stocks

Formation Securities has notified the SEC that it plans to run a tokenised stock trading venue on Solana under the regulator's Innovation Exemption, with trading expected in early 2027.

⏱ 2 min read Crypto
Quick Summary
  • Formation Securities plans to run a tokenised US stock venue on Solana under the SEC's Innovation Exemption
  • Formation's first listings will be Exodus Movement, Forward Industries and Galaxy Digital, with trading expected in early 2027
  • Tokenised shares on the Formation venue must carry the same voting and dividend rights as the original stock

Formation Securities has told the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it plans to run a venue for trading tokenised US stocks on the Solana blockchain.

The company filed a notice under the SEC’s Innovation Exemption, and expects to be one of the first venues to trade tokenised US stocks onchain. Trading is expected to begin in early 2027.

The first stocks to be listed will be Exodus Movement, Forward Industries and Galaxy Digital.

How it will work

The venue will offer trading 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with near-instant settlement where both sides of a trade complete at the same moment. Every trade will be recorded on Solana’s public ledger in real time, while each company’s transfer agent keeps the official record of who owns its shares.

Tokenised shares on the venue must carry the same voting and dividend rights as the original stock. Tokenisation firms Securitize and Superstate are expected to supply them.

Formation licenses its trading technology from Orca, a Solana-based exchange. The company said it chose Solana for its speed, low costs and record with tokenised assets, noting the network already hosts more than $5 billion in tokenised real-world assets.

Who can trade

Access will be limited to verified investors. They will be able to reach the venue through Formation’s own platform and through partners including Alpaca, CoinList’s Passage, custody firms Anchorage, BitGo and Fireblocks, and wallet providers Solflare and Squads.

“Tokenized stocks will succeed only if public companies see the value in them,” said Christopher Montagano, president of Formation Securities. He said the firm plans to build the market together with the companies whose shares it lists.

The SEC’s Innovation Exemption

The SEC issued the Innovation Exemption in September as conditional relief. It allows eligible tokenised stocks to trade through permissioned automated pools on qualifying venues. Formation’s plan builds on Project Open, a proposal that a group including Orca, Superstate and the Solana Policy Institute put to the SEC in 2025.

A busy week for tokenised stocks

The filing comes as Wall Street steps up its own plans. The New York Stock Exchange recently picked Avalanche for the settlement layer of its planned tokenised securities platform.

What happens next

Formation’s venue still has to launch, and its early 2027 start depends on meeting the exemption’s conditions. How many companies agree to list their shares will show whether there is real demand.

⚖️ Our Verdict ⚖️ Watch and Wait

Formation's plan would bring 24/7 trading of tokenised US stocks to Solana under SEC rules. But only three stocks are lined up, access is limited to verified investors, and trading is not expected until early 2027.