Key Takeaways
Avalanche will power the NYSE’s new tokenized trading platform, enabling 24/7 trading of U.S. securities.The NYSE chose Avalanche for its fast, reliable atomic settlement and predictable regulatory controls.This move elevates blockchain from niche products to backend infrastructure for major global stock markets.
Avalanche to Support NYSE’s Tokenized 24/7 Trading Venue
As traditional trading firms transition to a digital, ubiquitous world, blockchain companies are starting to provide infrastructure to power their new generation platforms.
Avalanche founder Ava Labs announced that the blockchain network will provide the core infrastructure for the New York Stock Exchange’s upcoming tokenized alternative trading system (ATS), providing the services to enable 24/7 trading of U.S. market securities.
NYSE, part of Intercontinental Exchange, is one of the largest stock exchanges internationally, serving as the trading platform for companies with a collective valuation exceeding $30 trillion.
When looking for a backend to perform reliably with that level of activity, the company said it appreciated Avalanche’s architecture and its ability to adapt to the firm’s specific use case, allowing for a rapid implementation instead of redesigning its business around a new blockchain.
“The upcoming digital trading platform will support equities listed on a range of blockchains, though the ledger that records and settles trades needs to be fast and reliable, let us control who can take part, keep costs predictable, and have a large community of developers behind it. Avalanche meets all those needs,” said Dennis Lee, NYSE’s Head of Digital Issuance, in a statement.
Ava Labs founder and CEO Emin Gün Sirer detailed how an Avalanche-backed system will handle the upcoming NYSE affiliate tokenized securities trading:
“It will support the platform’s 24/7 atomic settlement needs with dedicated infrastructure with predictable performance and costs, the control to meet its regulatory and operational requirements, and connectivity to a broader ecosystem of assets and liquidity.”
“This approach is what technology built for business looks like, with infrastructure designed to support issuance and settlement onchain at the scale global markets demand,” he concluded.
The decision to choose Avalanche for this upcoming project comes after Michael Blaugrund, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), mentioned Avalanche as a possible solution to power NYSE’s ATS.
“As we move towards the prospective launch of our regulated ATS, we are looking very carefully at whether Avalanche could be that solution,” Blaugrund stated in September.
In January, the New York Stock Exchange announced it was developing a digital platform to support trading and onchain settlement of tokenized securities, combining NYSE’s Pillar matching engine with new blockchain infrastructure.
Avalanche said that this move shows blockchain can move from limited products and tokenized funds to become the backend that manages the issuance and settlement of these products.
