Tokenization Firm Securitize Gets SEC Approval for Public Debut

Real-world asset (RWA) tokenization firm Securitize moved a step closer to becoming a publicly traded company Friday (June 5) when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) declared effective the Registration Statement on Form S-4 in connection with a proposed business combination between Securitize and Cantor Fitzgerald affiliate Cantor Equity Partners II (CEPT).

Securitize and Cantor Fitzgerald announced the proposed business combination in October, saying that it values Securitize at a pre-money $1.25 billion equity value and will help the company “tokenize the world.”

The companies announced in January that Securitize publicly filed with the SEC the registration statement in connection with the proposed business combination after confidentially submitting a draft registration statement in November.

Now that the SEC has declared effective the registration statement, the proposed business combination will be submitted to CEPT shareholders for approval at a special meeting scheduled for June 29, Securitize and CEPT said in a Friday press release.

If the shareholders approve it, the proposed business combination is expected to close shortly thereafter, subject to customary closing conditions, according to the release.

Securitize Co-Founder and CEO Carlos Domingo said in the release that the latest step in this process marks an important milestone for broader institutional adoption of tokenization.

“Over the past several years, we have built regulated infrastructure designed to bring capital markets on-chain in partnership with many of the world’s leading financial institutions,” Domingo said. “Becoming a public company would position Securitize to continue scaling that infrastructure globally as tokenization increasingly becomes part of mainstream financial markets.”

When announcing the proposed business combination in October, Brandon Lutnick, chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and chairman of CEPT, said in a press release: “We believe that blockchain technology has massive potential to transform finance, and partnering with Securitize underscores our confidence in tokenization as a foundational force in the next era of capital markets.”

Securitize announced in May that it received approvals from FINRA that allow its subsidiary, Securitize Markets, to enable custody and atomic settlement for tokenized securities.

In March, the New York Stock Exchange and Securitize announced that they would work together to create standards for digital transfer agents and tokenization agents taking part in the digital ecosystem.

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