Nasdaq's head of digital assets explains exchange's push to launch trading of tokenized stocks

The podcast features an interview with Matt Savarese, Head of Digital Assets at Nasdaq, discussing Nasdaq's involvement in digital assets, including their application to the SEC for trading tokenized stocks and ETPs. Savarese explains the aim to bridge the digital asset and traditional finance worlds while prioritizing investor protection and maintaining the same rights for shareholders. The conversation covers the integration of tokenized assets into current market structures, the benefits of tokenization such as process efficiencies and enhanced collateral mobility, and Nasdaq's broader history and infrastructure in the digital asset space. Savarese also shares his outlook on the convergence of traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi), highlighting the importance of regulatory compliance and risk management from TradFi converging with the programmability of DeFi, and anticipates stablecoins and tokenized assets playing a significant role in capital efficiency for institutions by 2026.