FTX Crypto Exchange Debuts Tokenized Stock Trading

The news is the latest major development in the quest to make tokenized trading more mainstream.

FTX Offering Tokenized Trading of US Tech Stocks

According to Bloomberg, the FTX derivatives exchange is set to offer fractional stock trading on its platform. The move is the result of the exchange’s collaboration with German finance firm CM Equity and Digital Assets AG. As part of the announcement, FTX is offering tokenized shares of popular U.S. tech firms like Netflix, Facebook, Amazon, and Tesla, to be traded against cryptocurrencies. Commenting on the move, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried remarked that FTX is targeting traders who find traditional stock trading difficult to access. According to him, the platform hopes to provide an alternative to the “old and clunky” equities trading architecture. While FTX is offering tokenized stock trading on its platform, the exchange will not be the custodians of the actual securities. Instead, traders will have to liquidate their positions on the CM Equity platform. According to an FAQ article on its website, FTX revealed that trading commences on Oct 29. Users interested in buying tokenized shares must complete the exchange’s KYC level 2 verification with additional authorization required on the CM Equity platform. As part of the FAQ page, FTX also explained that its tokenized equities trading will retain many of the features of its usual crypto spot trading. A spokesperson for the exchange told Bloomberg that the platform will not charge management fees for holding the fractional stock tokens.

FTT Price Surges on Announcement

The news of the announcement has seen the price of the FTX token (FTT) rise significantly. According to data from TradingView, FTT is up more than 8% against Bitcoin (BTC), and as of press time, the FTX token trading at over $4.

FTX launching tokenized equity trading also fulfills a recent prediction by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Earlier in October, BeInCrypto reported that SEC Chairman Jay Clayton stated that blockchain could be the future of the U.S. stock market. In April 2020, regulators in Germany also introduced a draft law on tokenized securities.