Columbia professor questions NYSE blockchain tokenisation plans

A Columbia Business School professor criticised the New York Stock Exchange’s tokenisation proposal, saying it lacks sufficient technical detail.

Omid Malekan said the NYSE announcement resembled “vaporware,” citing unanswered questions around blockchain choice, permissions and token economics.

“Tokenisation represents a radically different architecture. It requires different skills and business models to be useful,”

Malekan said.

NYSE and its parent Intercontinental Exchange said the platform would support 24/7 trading and instant settlement of stocks and ETFs using blockchain technology.

The proposed system would also include custody services and multi-chain support, according to the exchange.

Malekan argued that NYSE’s centralised business model conflicts with the decentralised ethos of crypto and tokenisation.

He compared the move to legacy firms that failed to dominate the early internet despite leading prior technological eras.

Some crypto industry executives pushed back, calling the plan a positive step for real-world asset tokenisation.

“On-chain trading of native tokenised equities coming from NYSE, no wrappers, no derivatives, no tokenised entitlements, bullish,”

Carlos Domingo said.

Others said institutional adoption could accelerate tokenisation as regulatory clarity improves.