The New York Stock Exchange will use the Avalanche blockchain for its planned tokenised securities platform, according to Ava Labs, the company behind Avalanche.
Ava Labs said on Monday, 9 November, that Avalanche will be the “core ledger technology” for the clearing firm behind the NYSE-affiliated venue. That puts a blockchain underneath the platform’s clearing and settlement, rather than being used for a single fund or stock.
The platform is being developed by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of the NYSE. It is designed for trading, clearing and settlement of tokenised securities 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and still needs regulatory approval.
Neither company had given a launch date, or named the clearing firm, at the time of writing.
Why Avalanche
Dennis Lee, head of digital issuance at the NYSE, said the exchange is “picking the right technology for each job.” He said the platform will support stocks issued on a range of blockchains, but that the ledger at its core must be fast and reliable, and must be able to control who takes part.
Emin Gün Sirer, chief executive of Ava Labs, pointed to Avalanche’s “24/7 atomic settlement,” where both sides of a trade settle at the same moment, and its predictable costs.
Wall Street moves onchain
The NYSE has also partnered with Blockchain.com on tokenised stocks and exchange-traded funds. Morgan Stanley has started tokenising US stocks and Treasuries through the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s new tokenisation service, which went live last month.
A study by the International Monetary Fund found that tokenised stocks have real demand, but remain volatile and hard to trade in large amounts.
What happens next
Regulators will need to approve the platform before it can launch. A named clearing firm and a launch date will be the next signs of how quickly the NYSE moves trading onto Avalanche.
