Columbia professor says NYSE tokenization plan lacks detail, calls it 'vaporware'

A Columbia Business School professor has criticised the New York Stock Exchange’s plan to build a blockchain for real-world asset tokenization, saying the announcement lacked detail and read like “vaporware,” in an X post on Tuesday. Omid Malekan said many questions remain unanswered, including which chain the platform would be built on, whether tokens would be permissioned, permissionless or a combination, and what the tokenomics and fee set-up would look like.

NYSE and its parent, the Intercontinental Exchange, said the platform would enable 24/7 trading and instant settlement of stocks and exchange-traded funds with a blockchain post-trade system, including multi-chain support and custody features. In an opinion piece for Fortune Malekan argued NYSE’s business model is rooted in a “highly centralized and oligopolistic architecture,” and wrote that no amount of computer science and cryptography will undo that unless NYSE foregoes relationships with many of its partners.

In his X post he wrote, “Tokenization represents a radically different architecture,” and said he “can’t see how NYSE’s tokenization-focused blockchain ends up a success.” Cointelegraph said it has contacted NYSE for more details.

Key Topics

Crypto, Nyse, Omid Malekan, Intercontinental Exchange, Tokenization, Real-world Assets