Bullish, Equiniti launch Issuer Sponsored Token Coalition

Alpaca: Alpaca is a brokerage firm participating as an early member of the Issuer Sponsored Token Coalition. Head of Digital Assets Arush Sehgal highlighted the coalition's focus on interoperability between traditional and on-chain markets through Alpaca’s Instant Tokenization Network. The firm contributes to standards that allow tokenized equities and traditional counterparts to convert while preserving shareholder rights. Bullish: Bullish is a market infrastructure firm listed on the NYSE under the ticker $BLSH. It co-announced the formation of the Issuer Sponsored Token Coalition with Equiniti to develop technical standards and frameworks for issuer-sponsored tokenized securities. CEO Tom Farley emphasized that the initiative aims to keep public companies at the center of shareholder relationships while combining blockchain advantages with existing market protections. Equiniti: Equiniti is a market infrastructure firm focused on transfer agency and shareholder services. It partnered with Bullish to launch the Issuer Sponsored Token Coalition aimed at advancing issuer-sponsored tokenized securities that maintain direct connections to the authoritative shareholder register. The firm supports the development of infrastructure for interoperability with traditional capital markets. Tom Farley: Tom Farley is the CEO of Bullish. He described tokenization as turning static assets into active, transparent digital shares and noted that the coalition's architecture will ensure issuers remain central in shareholder relationships. Farley highlighted the combination of blockchain technology with established market structure protections. DriveWealth: DriveWealth is a brokerage firm with CEO Naureen Hassan serving as an early coalition participant. Hassan stressed that issuer-sponsored models ensure genuine equity ownership with full shareholder rights, voting, and corporate-action entitlements, unlike many other tokenized equity offerings. The firm supports infrastructure that maintains these protections as markets move on-chain. Arush Sehgal: Arush Sehgal is Head of Digital Assets at Alpaca. He explained that the coalition advances interoperability so tokenized equities can connect to traditional markets while preserving shareholder rights. Sehgal pointed to Alpaca’s Instant Tokenization Network as enabling conversion between tokenized and traditional forms. Travis McGhee: Travis McGhee is Global Head of Digital Markets at Apex Fintech Solutions. He emphasized the need for connective infrastructure to scale tokenized markets responsibly, drawing from Apex’s operations across issuers, broker-dealers, and investors. McGhee joined the coalition to help develop standards that maintain current market relationships and protections. Naureen Hassan: Naureen Hassan is CEO of DriveWealth. She argued that much marketed tokenized equity fails to deliver true ownership and that the coalition addresses this by ensuring real shareholder rights and entitlements. Hassan noted that innovation and genuine ownership are compatible goals for building valuable markets. Apex Fintech Solutions: Apex Fintech Solutions operates across issuers, broker-dealers, and investors in market infrastructure. Global Head of Digital Markets Travis McGhee joined the coalition to advance connective standards that enable tokenized markets to scale responsibly while preserving existing relationships and protections. The firm brings operational insights from its broad market participant roles. Event: Coalition members will convene with issuers and capital-market leaders at the New York Stock Exchange on October 27 to discuss public company approaches to tokenization, required infrastructure, and connections between traditional securities markets and blockchain rails. Model: Issuer-sponsored tokens are issued with the issuer's direct participation and connect to its shareholder register, preserving ownership rights, corporate-action entitlements, and investor protections by design under the SEC framework. Regulation: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued an Innovation Exemption on September 17, 2026, creating a five-year framework for on-chain trading of tokenized U.S.-listed stocks that requires venues to verify equivalent rights for token holders as traditional shareholders.