Securitize heads to NYSE debut after investors approve SPAC merger; CEPT gains 20%

Securitize, a tokenization specialist backed by BlackRock, said Monday it cleared a final major hurdle to becoming a public company after shareholders of Cantor Equity Partners II (CEPT) approved the firms’ proposed merger on Monday.

The transaction is expected to close on Wednesday, subject to customary closing conditions, with the combined company beginning trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SECZ, the company said in an X post.

Shares of CEPT surged as much as 20% during the Monday session.

Founded in 2017, Securitize has become one of the leading providers of tokenization infrastructure, helping asset managers including BlackRock, Apollo, KKR and VanEck issue blockchain-based versions of traditional investment products. The company counts BlackRock and ARK Invest among its early investors.

The listing comes as tokenization — the process of representing traditional assets such as funds, bonds and private credit on blockchain networks — gains traction across Wall Street. Citi has projected tokenized assets could reach $5.5 trillion by 2030, while Standard Chartered estimated the market could grow to $2 trillion by 2028 as financial institutions increasingly move real-world assets onto blockchain rails.

The NYSE debut will give public market investors one of the few pure-play opportunities to gain exposure to the rapidly growing tokenization sector.