Bullish Picks Solana, Aptos and Ethereum for Tokenized Share Rollout

TLDR:

• Bullish named Solana, Aptos and Ethereum as initial network partners for equity tokenization services. 
• Bullish and Equiniti transferred 61 million tokenized reserved shares on Solana in a matter of seconds. 
• Issuers can reward tokenized shareholders onchain by sending a digital Consensus pass to their wallets. 
• Official ownership records stay with the transfer agent while issuers reach investors on many networks.

Tokenized shares from Bullish will be available on Solana, Aptos, and Ethereum, the NYSE-listed platform announced on November 3. The company named the three networks as initial partners for its equity tokenization services.

Bullish and Equiniti Transfer 61 Million Tokenized Shares

Bullish (NYSE: BLSH) is an institutionally focused platform that provides regulated market infrastructure and information services.

It already works with Solana and plans to add Aptos and Ethereum. Issuers will then choose among networks for their issuer-sponsored tokenized shares.

The announcement follows an event Bullish and Equiniti hosted at the New York Stock Exchange on October 27. Bullish CEO Tom Farley and Equiniti CEO Dan Kramer demonstrated the transfer of 61 million tokenized reserved shares. The transfer ran on Solana, and Equiniti administered it. It completed in seconds.

Farley also showed a reward method for shareholders. Issuers can distribute a digital Consensus pass directly to a shareholder’s wallet.

The method offers a new way to engage holders. Bullish intends to offer the same capabilities on Aptos, Ethereum, and other networks over time.

In May, Bullish agreed to acquire Equiniti. It also became the first NYSE-listed firm to tokenize its full equity cap table on Solana. Tokenized BLSH shares later began trading on Bullish Exchange.

This week’s tokenization of 61 million reserved shares serves another purpose. Bullish has earmarked sufficient shares for closing the acquisition.

The final amount will follow the merger agreement. Remaining regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions still apply.

Why Multi-Network Support Matters for Issuers

Bullish describes multi-network support as the next step in bringing public equities onchain. Investors and liquidity are spread across several public blockchains. Tokenization infrastructure for capital markets therefore needs to work across them.

Support for Aptos and Ethereum alongside Solana lets issuers reach investors on networks they already use. As a result, issuers do not need to move investors to a single chain. Meanwhile, the official record of ownership stays with the transfer agent.

Tokenized shares can enable capabilities the current post-trade system was not designed to support. These include round-the-clock markets, near-instant settlement, and programmable corporate actions. They also include real-time visibility into share ownership and new ways to reward shareholders.

Thomas Cowan, Head of Tokenization at Bullish, said the company wants issuer tokens “available on key blockchains for our investors.” He added, “Solana gave us the foundation to tokenize our own shares.”

According to Cowan, the NYSE event “showed issuers what that looks like in practice.” He also said, “Supporting Aptos and Ethereum is the logical next step to meet the market and continue strong industry growth.”

Separately, Bullish and EQ convened the Issuer Sponsored Token Coalition, a non-exclusive industry working group.

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