CZ's Blockchain IPO Vision Gains Traction as Stock Tokens Hit $3 Billion
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao recently predicted that Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) will eventually move onto blockchains, and it seems investors are already showing interest in this idea. The market surrounding CZ's prediction has seen a significant change, with tokenized stocks representing roughly $2.9 billion of on-chain value, up about 14% over the past month.
The demand for companies that have not even gone public is exploding, with pre-IPO trading reaching about $12 billion in June, driven partly by interest in private companies such as SpaceX and OpenAI. This trend already extends beyond derivatives, with France's ST Group completing what is described as Europe's first fully on-chain IPO in April through the regulated Lise exchange.
Traditional exchanges are also moving in the same direction, with the New York Stock Exchange filing rule changes in April allowing securities to trade in tokenized form. The SEC has made it clear that a share remains a security when moved onto a blockchain, and registration, disclosure, and investor-protection rules still apply.
The trend is gaining traction, with weekly tokenized-equity trading reaching nearly $3 billion. However, there is an important distinction - some stock tokens merely track the economics of an underlying share, without necessarily giving investors voting rights or direct legal ownership.