Galaxy Digital has become the first Nasdaq-listed company to tokenize its SEC-registered equity directly on the Solana blockchain. The firm announced on September 3 that it partnered with Superstate to enable stockholders to tokenize and hold $GLXY shares on Solana.
Galaxy’s tokenized equity is now available on Superstate’s Opening Bell platform. Eligible investors can tokenize their Class A Common Stock and hold it onchain in their crypto wallets. The firm noted that these tokens represent actual shares of Galaxy Digital. Superstate, as the SEC-registered transfer agent, records legal ownership onchain in real-time as tokens change hands.
This approach ensures that tokenized $GLXY shares maintain full compliance and legal equivalence with traditional shares. The shares remain SEC-registered and preserve all associated rights, providing investors with a direct bridge between conventional equity ownership and blockchain-based management.
The company believes that “tokenization will do for value what the internet did for information”. For investors, this initiative means the potential for near-instant settlement, 24/7 transferability, and improved transparency compared to conventional settlement systems.
Galaxy’s CEO Mike Novogratz emphasized the importance of this step. “Our goal is a tokenized equity that brings the best of crypto, transparency, programmability, and composability, into the traditional world,” he said. He noted that the initiative aims to build a scalable model that possibly extends beyond Galaxy to the broader market.
Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana Labs, described the initiative as “insane” in an X post.
Current Activity and Market Presence
Galaxy has now issued 32,374 tokenized shares, worth approximately $770,000, on Solana. Twenty-two token holders have onboarded with Superstate and completed the required verification. Each onchain transaction updates Galaxy’s shareholder register instantly, providing a direct link between blockchain activity and official corporate records.
Galaxy has also published its Solana contract address to ensure transparency and help investors identify the legitimate tokenized GLXY shares.
Criticism and Limitations
One of the defining features of Galaxy’s tokenized shares is the requirement for investors to undergo Know Your Customer (KYC) checks and have their wallet addresses whitelisted by Superstate. Only verified addresses can hold or transfer $GLXY shares onchain. Attempts to send tokens to non-whitelisted addresses fail at the smart contract level. This structure provides regulatory compliance and security, but also introduces restrictions that contrast with the permissionless ethos of decentralized finance.
Proph3t, cofounder of MetaDAO, expressed skepticism on social media, stating, “This is cool, but I’m skeptical onchain equities will take off because of the KYC requirements. The value of being on Solana is that anyone can buy you on Jupiter, lend you on Kamino, etc. If you don’t have that, you just have an expensive MySQL instance.”
Another concern is Superstate's ability to reissue the tokenized shares. Galaxy Research’s whitepaper states that in the event of a lost wallet or lost keys, the investor can request the transfer agent to cancel and reissue the tokenized shares to a new wallet. This is positioned as a benefit for recovery, but it does introduce centralized admin capabilities typical in regulated tokenized assets.
Liquidity also remains a challenge. The onchain securities market is still nascent, and there is no assurance that a robust secondary market for tokenized $GLXY shares will develop. Even with potential integration into AMMs, questions remain about whether sufficient trading activity will emerge to support efficient price discovery.
A Growing Market for Tokenized Assets
The launch of Galaxy’s tokenized shares comes amid broader momentum in real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. Platforms such as Remora Markets are introducing new avenues for composability, including arbitrage opportunities and yield-bearing strategies, while maintaining compliance with regulations, and without requiring KYC. With multiple tokenized stock providers entering the market, investors may soon gain access to a broader range of tokenized assets, potentially driving greater adoption of onchain securities.
Galaxy’s initiative demonstrates how blockchain technology can modernize legacy equity systems. At the same time, the experiment highlights the tension between regulatory requirements and the decentralized ideals of blockchain.
Disclaimer: Remora Markets and SolanaFloor are owned and operated by Step Finance
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