What You Need to Know:
- SBI Holdings has teamed up with Startale to create a tokenized stock platform suitable for institutional use.
- The project’s goal is to allow worldwide trading and settlement of tokenized assets on a 24/7 basis.
- This development aligns with similar expansions by other platforms like Robinhood and Kraken, which are also adding tokenized stock options.
The Japanese financial giant, SBI Holdings, is entering the bustling market for tokenized stocks through a joint effort with the Singapore-based blockchain firm Startale. They aim to establish an on-chain platform to facilitate trading in tokenized equities and real-world assets (RWAs), as they announced this past Friday.
This initiative positions SBI alongside other major companies exploring tokenized stock offerings. Notably, companies like Robinhood and various cryptocurrency exchanges—including Kraken and Gemini—are already offering blockchain-based equivalents of publicly traded stocks.
Managing over 11 trillion yen (approximately $74 billion) in assets and servicing more than 65 million customers globally, SBI regards the tokenization of assets as a critical transformation in international markets. “We predict that this movement will eventually lead to the digitalization of capital markets themselves, including exchanges,” said Yoshitaka Kitao, President and CEO of SBI Holdings, in a statement.
The partnership will prioritize around-the-clock trading of tokenized U.S. and Japanese stocks with nearly instantaneous settlements. It will feature options for fractional ownership, institutional-grade custody, and real-time compliance oversight.
“This platform will be highly interoperable, continuously accessible, and tailored to serve the needs of users on a global scale,” said Yoshitaka Kitao.
Startale is known for developing Soneium, an Ethereum layer-2 network, in collaboration with Japanese tech leader Sony.
