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'Tokenise the World': Securitize and Computershare Have Just Opened a Path for $70 Trillion in US Equities to Go Onchain

  • Writer: Shawn Jhanji
    Shawn Jhanji
  • Apr 30
  • 4 min read
Securitize and Computershare Have Just Opened a Path for $70 Trillion in US Equities to Go Onchain"

If one announcement were to define the week in tokenised finance, it would be this: Securitize and Computershare have agreed a partnership that, for the first time, creates a direct pathway for thousands of listed US companies to issue shares in tokenised form.

The announcement, made on 29 April 2026, may be the most consequential development for tokenised equity since BlackRock's BUIDL fund first crossed \$1 billion in assets under management. Here is why.


The Scale of What Has Been Announced

Computershare is the world's largest share registry. It acts as transfer agent for approximately 58% of the S&P 500 - including Gamestop, the highly popular 'meme stock, and the company serves more than 25,000 companies globally. When Computershare moves, the capital markets move with it. Under the agreement,


Computershare will integrate with Securitize's platform to enable its US issuer clients to issue equity securities in tokenised form. The new instrument is officially called an Issuer-Sponsored Token, or IST. The result is that tens of thousands of companies — from blue-chip corporates to growth-stage listed firms — now have a clear, regulated pathway to put their shares onchain.


CoinDesk reported that the deal could open the door to $70 trillion in US stocks eventually moving to blockchain rails. That figure reflects the total market capitalisation of US listed equities, and while not all of that capital will move immediately, the infrastructure to make it possible is now in place.


What Makes ISTs Different

This is not a synthetic product. ISTs are not derivative tokens layered on top of existing shares.


They represent direct equity ownership — primary securities in token form, sitting alongside traditional shares in the Direct Registration System (DRS).


The issuer remains at the centre of their own capital structure. Computershare acts as transfer agent for ISTs, processing corporate actions — dividends, stock splits, shareholder votes — for tokenised holdings in exactly the same way it does for traditionally registered shares. There is no disconnect between the token and the underlying equity.


This distinction matters enormously for the market's credibility. One of the persistent criticisms of tokenised equity products has been that they rely on wrapped structures, custodial agreements, or derivative exposures that separate the investor from genuine ownership. The Securitize and Computershare model is designed to eliminate that gap entirely.


The Architecture of Genuine Tokenised Equity

The IST model connects Securitize's blockchain infrastructure — which already supports tokenised funds from BlackRock, Hamilton Lane, Apollo, KKR, and VanEck — to Computershare's deep issuer services expertise. Together, they are positioning themselves as the regulated backbone for corporate equity tokenisation at institutional scale.


Issuers can include ISTs as part of their issued capital from day one. Shareholders who hold ISTs participate in the same corporate actions as traditional shareholders. And Computershare's role as transfer agent ensures that the regulatory and compliance framework follows established precedent, rather than requiring new rules to be written from scratch.


As the official announcement stated, the solution "ensures issuers remain at the center of their capital structure, maintaining control while safeguarding direct issuer-to-shareholder interactions."


What This Means for the UK and European Market

The implications of this partnership stretch well beyond the US.


For UK founders and investors watching the tokenised equity space, the Securitize and Computershare deal signals that the institutional infrastructure for tokenised equity is being built at genuine scale. The question of whether established financial intermediaries would adopt blockchain-based equity infrastructure is now definitively answered — at least in one of the world's two largest capital markets.


In the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority's consultation on fund tokenisation (CP25/28) and the ongoing Digital Securities Sandbox have created a regulatory environment in which equivalent structures could be developed. The Computershare model — where a major transfer agent integrates tokenisation services for its issuer clients — is exactly the kind of institutional solution that UK regulators are seeking to enable.


For platforms building tokenised equity infrastructure for private UK companies, the argument for equivalent infrastructure for unlisted startups becomes considerably stronger when the world's largest share registry is offering tokenised equity services to its listed clients.


The Broader Momentum

This announcement did not come in isolation. In the same period:

  • Securitize is preparing a NASDAQ listing that would make it the first publicly traded tokenisation platform

  • Hamilton Lane has taken a strategic stake in Republic, accelerating institutional access to private tokenised assets

  • Morgan Stanley has committed to launching a dedicated digital asset wallet for tokenised assets in H2 2026


The pattern is clear: the infrastructure layer for tokenised equity is being locked in. Transfer agents, custodians, asset managers, and exchanges are all committing to the architecture. The tokenised equity ecosystem is no longer a collection of pilots. It is becoming permanent financial market infrastructure.


Key Takeaways

  • Securitize and Computershare have partnered to enable Issuer-Sponsored Tokens (ISTs) — tokenised equity directly within issuers' own capital structures, not derivatives

  • Computershare acts as transfer agent for approximately 58% of the S&P 500 and more than 25,000 companies globally

  • ISTs are genuine primary equity in token form, with corporate actions (dividends, votes, splits) processed identically to traditionally registered shares

  • The deal opens a potential \$70 trillion pathway for US-listed equities to move to blockchain rails

  • This is the clearest signal yet that tokenised equity is becoming mainstream financial market infrastructure, not a niche experiment



Sources:

= The Block: [https://www.theblock.co/post/399390/tokenize-world-securitize-computershare-to-bring-more-stocks-onchain](https://www.theblock.co/post/399390/tokenize-world-securitize-computershare-to-bring-more-stocks-onchain)

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