The New York Stock Exchange’s upcoming tokenized securities platform will use Avalanche as its blockchain infrastructure, Ava Labs announced on Monday. Avalanche is a smart contract blockchain known for high throughput and low-latency transactions. Ava Labs, the lead developer behind Avalanche, said the venue’s clearing firm will keep its transaction records on Avalanche.
Tokenized trading platform under development
The trading venue is being established as an alternative trading system (ATS), which is a regulated market for securities that operates independently of conventional stock exchanges. The project is led by an NYSE affiliate as part of a broader strategy to modernize securities trading with blockchain technology.
According to the announcement, Avalanche will act as the primary ledger technology for the clearing process, though the specific clearing firm was not disclosed. Ava Labs stated that, pending regulatory approval, the platform aims to enable its subscribers to trade, clear, and settle securities 24 hours a day, seven days a week. However, there is currently no official launch date.
The NYSE is the world’s largest stock exchange by market capitalization and is owned by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), a global operator of exchanges and clearing houses.
Mini dictionary: Alternative trading system (ATS) – A trading platform for securities that operates outside traditional stock exchanges, often providing more flexibility in trading hours and rules. ATS venues must register with regulators and are commonly used by broker-dealers and other financial institutions.
Technology selection and regulatory requirements
Dennis Lee, NYSE’s head of digital issuance, described Avalanche as meeting the project’s needs for speed, participation control, predictable costs, and robust developer support. Lee emphasized the importance of choosing technology that fits each specific purpose and confirmed that the new platform will support equities listed on various blockchains.
Avalanche satisfies all the technological and operational needs for speed, operator control, cost stability, and an active developer community, according to Dennis Lee, who leads NYSE’s digital issuance division.
Ava Labs CEO Emin Gün Sirer highlighted that the platform requires “24/7 atomic settlement” capabilities—a process where both the asset and payment are exchanged instantly and simultaneously to prevent settlement risk. Sirer said the Avalanche-powered solution will provide reliable infrastructure and operator controls to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
The platform’s atomic settlement and continuous operation will leverage dedicated infrastructure with consistent performance and cost controls to meet strict regulatory standards, explained Emin Gün Sirer.
Mini dictionary: Atomic settlement – A transaction process in which the transfer of securities and funds occurs in a single, indivisible step, eliminating counterparty risk.
Broader strategy and industry partnerships
In January, NYSE announced it would use its proprietary Pillar matching engine to process trading orders, the system responsible for pairing buyers and sellers during market operations. Trades will be settled on one or more blockchains, with Avalanche now confirmed as a core network.
In March, NYSE entered a memorandum of understanding with Securitize, a tokenization firm specializing in digital asset issuance. Securitize was named the platform’s initial digital transfer agent, responsible for issuing tokenized securities.
| Component | Provider | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Clearing firm ledger | Avalanche | Blockchain records and settlement |
| Trading orders matching | Pillar matching engine (NYSE) | Order pairing |
| Tokenized securities issuance | Securitize | Digital transfer agent |
The platform is currently awaiting regulatory approval. Further details, including its official launch date and the clearing firm’s identity, have not yet been disclosed.
