The New York Stock Exchange is evaluating Avalanche as a candidate blockchain for its planned tokenized securities venue, according to Michael Blaugrund, vice president of strategic initiatives at NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange. Speaking about the project, Blaugrund said Avalanche “checks a lot of those boxes” and that the two teams are “very engaged.”
The proposed platform would combine NYSE’s existing Pillar matching technology with blockchain-based settlement, support trading against stablecoins, and potentially operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week—subject to regulatory approval. Unlike the current T+1 settlement cycle, the tokenized model could enable simultaneous transfer of tokenized stock and stablecoin payment, reducing counterparty settlement exposure and moving closer to atomic onchain settlement.
The initiative comes as the SEC’s September 17 Innovation Exemption opened a path for qualifying Tokenized Securities Venues to test tokenized NMS stock trading on permissioned onchain infrastructure. NYSE has not received final approval, and the final architecture remains under development.
Blaugrund emphasized that the requirements are institutional rather than purely technical, including performance, institutional wallet support, interoperability, and connectivity with transfer agents, stablecoin issuers, broker-dealers, and DTCC. A major open challenge is liquidity outside regular U.S. market hours, where wider spreads and lower depth could emerge even if the venue is technically open.
