Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao made a brief statement on September 7, 2026. “IPOs will move to blockchain,” he said, without providing a specific timeline, structural blueprint, or the names of any issuing companies preparing to make the leap.
While the claim sounds like a long-term outlook, moving stock offerings onto digital ledgers has already advanced well beyond mere theory. France made history in April 2026 by completing a fully tokenized public share offering via the Lightning Stock Exchange in Paris.
French aerospace and defense company ST Group led the way, raising €2.07 million by selling 113,525 shares at €18.25 each. Law firm Clifford Chance recognized ST Group’s move as the world’s first purely on-chain tokenized IPO. The transaction operated under the EU Distributed Ledger Technology Pilot Regime, ensuring investors received genuine shares regulated under securities law rather than synthetic tokens mirroring asset prices.
The Line Between Real Shares and Settlement Tools
The United States has taken a slightly different path. The SEC approved Nasdaq’s tokenized securities pilot program on March 18. Now, exchanges such as Nasdaq and the NYSE have formal guidelines to trade tokenized securities within conventional formats.
Supporting infrastructure is also gaining ground. Cantor Fitzgerald and Securitize are building a dedicated blockchain system for IPOs and follow-on offerings, though they have yet to reveal their debut issuer. On July 15, 2026, clearinghouse DTC ran live production transactions involving 40 firms, with plans to expand the blockchain clearing service in October 2026.
However, there is a distinct difference between the European and US approaches. Tokenized shares currently trading on Nasdaq or the NYSE are not native on-chain IPO products like ST Group’s. On US exchanges, blockchain technology is currently utilized merely as a back-end settlement tool for existing conventional equities.
Real Numbers Behind the Prediction
Tracking dashboard RWA.xyz reports that tokenized equities now represent approximately $2.9 billion in value. That distribution figure climbed 14% over the past month, leading up to CZ’s prediction.
The forecast that public share offerings will migrate to the blockchain may not materialize across the board overnight. But with a company already raising millions of euros purely on-chain and Wall Street busy deploying digital clearing tools, the Binance founder’s words are closer to reporting on the current reality than gazing into a crystal ball.
Source: crypto.news.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
