In a recent interview, MERJ Exchange CEO Edmond Tuohy told Bloomberg that his company will list the first security token on a national stock market in the coming days. The listing will feature tokenized shares in MERJ Exchange itself, which is the only licensed securities exchange in Seychelles. MERJ operates markets for the listing and trading of equities, debt, derivatives, Forex products, and more.

Seychelles Stock Market and Security Tokens Explained

Stock markets in Seychelles, Switzerland, and Gibraltar have raced to list the first regulated security token on a national stock market.

That race is expected to end this week.

Edmond Tuohy, CEO of MERJ Exchange— the company that runs the stock market in Seychelles— says his company will list tokenized equity in the coming days.

Back in May, MERJ received the appropriate regulatory approval to launch a security token exchange.

Around the same time, the Gibraltar Stock Exchange and Switzerland-based SIX also announced plans to integrate security tokens.

Despite the developing plans, Tuohy says his company will now be a first mover in the nascent space:

“There are a lot of people in the market who want this but there is a big gap at the moment: there is no, at least on the exchange side, well-regulated institution that does listing, trading, clearing, settlement and registry that’s using distributed ledger technology. We are taking the advantage in being a first mover.”

The MERJ Exchange also says its service differs from other competition. It will provide a regulated end-to-end service— something necessary for digital assets. According to Jim Needham, head of digital asset strategy for MERJ,

“There are licensed exchanges but they are not licensed to do the post trade. We’ve got a real advantage in that we can do the whole thing end-to-end in a regulated wrap-up.”

MERJ says they plan to use the Ethereum blockchain and could have as many as 30 tokenized listings by the end of the year.

In addition to equity, regulated security tokens have been implemented in real-world assets to include real estate, investment funds, and even fine art.

Tuohy says he is not intimidated by the lack of current integration of security tokens with stock markets:

“It seems like a big bridge to cross and will there be anyone there? If you build it, [they] will come.”

What do you think of the world’s first security token on a national stock market? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

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