Galaxy is partnering with Superstate to tokenize its SEC-registered equity directly, in an apparent first.
Mike Novogratz’s publicly traded crypto financial services company, Galaxy Digital, has teamed up with tokenization startup Superstate to allow stockholders to tokenize and hold its Class A Common Stock on Solana. The move marks what the firms say is the first time a public company has issued its Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)-registered equity directly on a blockchain.
In an announcement today, Sept. 3, Galaxy said that eligible investors can tokenize their GLXY shares via Superstate’s Opening Bell platform. Unlike many tokenized stock products, which rely on synthetic or wrapped models, these tokens represent actual Galaxy Digital shares, with legal ownership updated in real time by Superstate as the official SEC-registered transfer agent.
The Defiant first reported on the news that Galaxy was partnering with Superstate to tokenize GLXY stock in early August, after an SEC filing revealed the firms’ plans, but today marks the first official announcement of the move.
“Our goal is a tokenized equity that brings the best of crypto – transparency, programmability, and composability – into the traditional world. And we’re taking part in building a model that can scale, not just for Galaxy, but for the market more broadly,” Novogratz said in today’s release.
Seeking DeFi Liquidity
Superstate CEO Robert Leshner noted in the press release that every token transfer automatically updates the registered shareholder list, a milestone he described as a “massive upgrade” to public equity infrastructure. In addition to stock tokenization, the both companies are now exploring how tokenized shares could trade on automated market makers and other DeFi platforms in a manner compliant with SEC rules, the announcement reveals.
The tokenized shares are available only to verified investors who complete know your customer (KYC) verification, and Galaxy has publicly disclosed its contract address on Solana, warning that any tokens from other addresses claiming to represent GLXY shares are fraudulent.
Data from Solscan shows that the contract has issued over 32,000 tokenized shares so far, with Wintermute’s hot wallet controlling over 90% of the issued tokens.
As of press time, GLXY shares have soared over 5% since markets opened, currently trading around $25.27, per data from Yahoo Finance.
The tokenized stock sector has been growing recently. This week both Ondo Finance and Backed Finance announced that their respective tokenized stock products are launching on the Ethereum blockchain. In both cases, however, the tokenized equities are, as previously mentioned, on-chain representations of the stock’s value, but do not offer holders the rights associated with the underlying shares. Also both Ondo’s and Backed’s products are not available to U.S. traders.
