Securitize
Securitize is a US financial technology company that provides infrastructure for issuing, recording and trading tokenized securities. Its services connect blockchain-based ownership records with investor onboarding, transfer agency, fund distribution and secondary trading. The business was founded in 2017 and has worked with asset managers including BlackRock, KKR and Apollo.[1][2][3][4]
Securitize operates through separate technology and financial-services entities. A blockchain token issued through its infrastructure can represent a fund interest, an issuer-sponsored share or a security entitlement held through a broker. These structures have different ownership and transfer arrangements.[4][5]
History
Securitize developed during the expansion of blockchain-based capital raising in the late 2010s. Carlos Domingo is a co-founder. Its transfer-agent business obtained SEC registration in 2019, and in 2020 it acquired Distributed Technology Markets, an existing broker-dealer and alternative trading system. The acquisition provided a route into regulated secondary trading alongside the company's issuance and ownership-record services.[6]
In June 2021, Securitize raised US$48 million in a Series B round co-led by Morgan Stanley and Blockchain Capital. In May 2024, it announced a US$47 million financing round led by BlackRock, with participation from Hamilton Lane, ParaFi Capital and Tradeweb Markets. The latter investment followed the launch of BlackRock's BUIDL fund using Securitize's infrastructure.[1][7]
The company completed a business combination with Cantor Equity Partners II in July 2026. Its shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SECZ on 2 July.[8][9]
Services and regulated entities
The platform combines securities issuance and management software with services from affiliated financial firms. Transfer agents maintain ownership records and process changes such as transfers and distributions; brokerage and distribution connect offerings with eligible investors. An alternative trading system provides a venue for secondary transactions, although a particular security may have no active secondary market.[6][10]
In the United States, Securitize Markets, LLC is an SEC-registered broker-dealer and FINRA member, identified in BrokerCheck under CRD number 283256. Securitize Transfer Agent, LLC files separately as a transfer agent. Securitize Capital LLC's investment-adviser registration became effective on 22 July 2026, according to the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure register. These registrations concern the named firms and their activities rather than an endorsement of every investment offered through the platform.[11][12][13]
In Europe, Securitize Europe Brokerage and Markets, S.V., S.A. appears in Spain's CNMV investment-firm register under number 327. On 26 November 2025, the CNMV authorized its distributed-ledger trading and settlement system under the European Union's DLT Pilot Regime. The authorization concerns a system combining trading and settlement functions; it should be distinguished from the separate investment-firm registration.[14][15]
Tokenized funds
BlackRock BUIDL
BlackRock launched the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, known as BUIDL, on Ethereum in March 2024. At launch, BlackRock managed the investments, BNY Mellon served as custodian of the fund's assets and administrator, Securitize supplied transfer-agency and tokenization services, and Securitize Markets acted as placement agent.[2]
The fund invested in cash, US Treasury bills and repurchase agreements. Its launch terms restricted participation to eligible investors and transfers to pre-approved investors, with an initial US$5 million investment minimum. Its stated US$1 token-value objective concerned a fund share and was not a guarantee against investment loss.[2]
KKR and Apollo exposure
In September 2022, Securitize Capital launched a fund on Avalanche providing exposure to KKR's Health Care Strategic Growth Fund II. The Securitize vehicle was offered under Regulation D, Rule 506(c). It represented an investment route into the KKR strategy, rather than tokenization of the entire underlying KKR fund.[3]
In January 2025, Apollo and Securitize launched the Apollo Diversified Credit Securitize Fund, or ACRED. This feeder fund invests substantially all its assets in Apollo Diversified Credit Fund. Its initial networks included Aptos, Avalanche, Ethereum, Ink, Polygon and Solana. The launch assigned investor distribution to Securitize Markets and digital transfer-agency and fund-administration services to Securitize.[4]
Tokenized stocks
In October 2026, Securitize announced Securitize Stocks, initially on Solana, with transactions settled in USDC. Independent reporting described a launch with extended US trading hours and plans to expand toward continuous trading.[5][16]
The company describes these tokens as security entitlements under Article 8 of the Uniform Commercial Code, backed one for one by underlying shares. Its disclosures state that holders are not registered shareholders of the underlying issuer unless they convert, and that those issuers have not sponsored or endorsed Securitize Stocks. Dividends, voting rights and conversion depend on the underlying share class and applicable arrangements.[5]
The announcement also described possible trading on planned NYSE and OKXICE venues. It explicitly stated that those venues had not launched and that access remained subject to regulatory, venue and operational requirements. These plans were separate from the offering on Securitize's own platform.[5]
Custody and investor access
Custody arrangements depend on the product and service provider. Securitize Markets' relationship summary, dated November 2023, stated that it did not hold customer funds or securities. On 4 May 2026, the company announced that FINRA had approved expanded activities allowing the subsidiary to custody tokenized securities and facilitate atomic settlement against stablecoins. The announcement was subsequently filed with the SEC; it is the company's account of its permissions, rather than the approval letter itself.[10][17]
The later announcement describes expanded permissions but does not identify the custody arrangements of every offering. In particular, custody of the assets inside BUIDL is distinct from recording or holding its tokenized shares.[10][17][2]
Investor access is subject to the offering, jurisdiction and onboarding checks. Some offerings require accredited or otherwise qualified investors; the stock offering also specifies identity and anti-money-laundering checks and jurisdictional restrictions. Recording a token on a public blockchain does not remove these access conditions.[10][5]
Limitations and risks
Tokenization does not ensure an active market or immediate redemption. Private investments can remain illiquid, and the availability of secondary trading depends on the security and venue. Blockchain-based investments also retain the financial risks of their underlying assets and add technical risks associated with the token infrastructure.[10][2][4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Morgan Stanley, Blockchain Capital Lead $48M Funding for Securitize, Blockworks, 21 June 2021.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 BlackRock Launches Its First Tokenized Fund, BUIDL, on the Ethereum Network, BlackRock, 20 March 2024.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Securitize Launches Fund Providing Tokenized Exposure to KKR Fund for the First Time in the U.S., KKR, 13 September 2022.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Apollo and Securitize Announce Partnership and Launch Tokenized Access to Credit Fund, Apollo and Securitize, 30 January 2025.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Securitize Launches Global Onchain Trading of U.S. Stocks with Security Entitlements, Securitize, 8 October 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Meeting Gensler's demands — how one crypto firm took the 'long complicated route' to register with the SEC, DL News, 19 July 2023.
- ↑ RWA Tokenization Firm Securitize Raises $47M Led by Fund Partner BlackRock, CoinDesk, 1 May 2024.
- ↑ Securitize Completes Business Combination with Cantor Equity Partners II, Securitize, 1 July 2026.
- ↑ Securitize debuta en Wall Street con una subida del 12%, Cinco Días, 2 July 2026.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Customer Relationship Summary, Securitize Markets, last updated November 2023, accessed 19 October 2026.
- ↑ Securitize Markets, LLC — firm summary, FINRA BrokerCheck, accessed 19 October 2026.
- ↑ Securitize Transfer Agent, LLC, Form TA-1/A filing detail, SEC EDGAR, August 2026.
- ↑ Securitize Capital LLC — firm summary, SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, accessed 19 October 2026.
- ↑ Securitize Europe Brokerage and Markets — official register, CNMV, accessed 19 October 2026.
- ↑ La CNMV autoriza Securitize, el primer sistema de negociación y liquidación basado en tecnología de registros distribuidos, CNMV, 26 November 2025.
- ↑ Securitize launches 1:1-backed tokenized stocks, starting with Apple, Nvidia, Strategy and more, The Block, 8 October 2026.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Securitize Holdings, Inc., Form 425: custody and atomic-settlement announcement, filed 5 May 2026.