Lightning Stock Exchange (Lise), a new stock exchange headquartered in France, has been granted a DLT Trading and Settlement (TSS) license by France's Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR), paving the way for the first fully tokenized equity exchange in Europe. This authorization, issued under the European Union's DLT Pilot Regime that entered force in March 2023, allows Lise to operate as a combined Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) and Central Securities Depository (CSD), integrating trading and settlement functions within a single blockchain-based infrastructure.
Lise, a subsidiary of Kriptown and backed by major French banks including BNP Paribas and Bpifrance, is dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and aims to fundamentally rethink initial public offerings (IPOs) through asset tokenization. The first tokenized IPOs are expected in early 2026, following issuer onboarding and final operational readiness testing, with plans to tokenize 10 more IPOs in 2027, according to managing director Mark Kepeneghian.
In August, Caceis, the asset servicing banking group of Crédit Agricole, acquired a minority stake in Kriptown to support Lise's launch, reinforcing institutional commitment to digital asset innovation. The development aligns with a broader trend of tokenized securities growth, with the market expanding 224% since early 2024, as per the 2025 RWA Report. ESMA's June 2025 review highlighted Lise as an advanced applicant under the DLT Pilot Regime and emphasized the need for access to central bank money to scale such infrastructures.
Globally, this milestone is part of a wider shift, with the U.S. SEC approving Plume as a registered transfer agent for tokenized securities and partnerships like Standard Chartered with OKX enabling institutional trading under MiCA regulations. Ondo Global Markets has also onboarded over $300 million in tokenized stocks and ETFs in one month, strengthening Europe's real-world asset ecosystem.
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