Bullish, Alpaca and Apex Fintech form coalition to push issuer-backed tokenized stocks

The Issuer Sponsored Token Coalition, unveiled on Thursday, was convened by CoinDesk parent company Bullish and Equiniti, a shareholder-services and market-infrastructure firm that is being acquired by the crypto platform.

The group said they plan to work on technical standards, settlement, custody and ways to move securities between traditional market infrastructure and blockchain networks.

Its main focus is issuer-sponsored tokenization, in which a tokenized share would be linked to a company’s official shareholder register. That structure is designed to preserve rights such as voting, dividends and participation in corporate actions.

The distinction has gained attention as firms roll out products that offer stock exposure without always giving holders direct ownership of the underlying shares.