Securitize, a company focused on tokenizing real-world assets (RWA) and backed by BlackRock, is set to become a publicly traded entity through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The transaction values Securitize at a pre-money valuation of $1.25 billion.
The announcement, made on Tuesday, details that Securitize will combine with Cantor Equity Partners II, Inc. This SPAC is sponsored by an affiliate of the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald and the combined entity is slated for listing on Nasdaq. Carlos Domingo, co-founder and CEO of Securitize, stated that the company's founding mission was "to democratize capital markets by making them more accessible, transparent, and efficient through tokenization."
Domingo further elaborated on the company's ambition to enable "financial markets operate at the speed of the internet." Howard Lutnick, Chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and chairman of Cantor Equity Partners II, expressed his belief in the "massive potential to transform finance" offered by blockchain technology.
Earlier reports this month had indicated that Securitize was in discussions with Cantor Fitzgerald regarding a potential public listing through this SPAC structure.
Securitize's Role in the Tokenization Landscape
Securitize operates within the domain of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). This involves the digitization of traditional financial assets, such as real estate, government bonds, commodities, or invoices, into digital tokens on a blockchain. This process transforms ownership or yield rights into tradable digital assets, enabling their use in decentralized finance (DeFi) systems, as collateral, or for trading.
The company has previously secured significant funding from prominent financial institutions, including BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, ARK Invest, and Morgan Stanley Investment Management. Notably, Securitize was instrumental in tokenizing BlackRock's BUIDL fund, which has recently been integrated into DeFi protocols.
Growth and Regulatory Landscape of Real-World Assets
The real-world asset sector within the crypto industry has experienced consistent growth, bolstered by an increasingly supportive regulatory environment in the United States. In recent months, the blockchain firm Ondo Finance has advocated for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to consider delaying or rejecting Nasdaq's proposal to trade tokenized securities, emphasizing the need for enhanced regulatory oversight.
Earlier this month, Rob Hadick, a general partner at the crypto venture firm Dragonfly, commented on the potential impact of tokenized equities. He suggested that while tokenized equities could offer significant advantages to traditional markets, their direct impact on the broader crypto industry might be less substantial than anticipated. Hadick posited that tokenized assets could facilitate 24/7 trading, but institutions might prefer operating within specialized ecosystems rather than directly on general-purpose blockchain networks.