Dinari, a San Francisco-based firm, recently made headlines by securing a US broker-dealer registration for its subsidiary, making it the first platform in the country cleared to offer blockchain-based shares of publicly traded companies to domestic investors. This news was reported by Reuters on June 26.
The company announced that it plans to activate the licensed entity in the next quarter, following the completion of onboarding with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Dinari is already distributing “dShares” on Coinbase’s Base network to users outside the US, and this new clearance will allow them to offer the same product to American brokerages and fintech apps through APIs rather than a direct-to-consumer portal.
CEO Gabriel Otte revealed that the company has secured integration partners and will route trades to registered market centers while settling token issuances on a public blockchain.
Tokenizing equities involves converting conventional shares into transferable digital tokens recorded on a blockchain. Advocates of this approach argue that it reduces clearing fees, accelerates settlement to near real-time, and enables round-the-clock trading. Dinari’s registration satisfies SEC requirements that secondary trading in securities, whether tokenized or not, must go through licensed intermediaries.
Other companies like Coinbase and Kraken are also pursuing tokenized equities offerings. Kraken recently launched a 24/7 trading platform for US stocks, while Coinbase has sought permission from the SEC to do the same.
Despite the growing interest in tokenized equities, there are still challenges to overcome. The World Economic Forum has highlighted shallow secondary-market liquidity and the lack of unified technical standards as major obstacles to mainstream adoption. Otte acknowledged these challenges but stated that Dinari’s on-chain settlement framework aims to provide a blueprint that regulators and industry groups can use when drafting interoperability guidelines.
Unlike traditional retail brokerages like Robinhood or Charles Schwab, Dinari integrates its trading and custody stack within third-party platforms. This “white label rails” model allows fintech firms to easily add tokenized equities to existing mobile apps without having to build blockchain infrastructure in-house.
Dinari’s broker-dealer will commence customer testing once it completes control-location attestations and vault integrations required under SEC Rule 15c3-3. The company plans to release updated technical specifications for its ERC-20-based share contract before the US launch.
Overall, Dinari’s groundbreaking move sets the stage for a new era of blockchain-based trading and investment opportunities for domestic investors, further solidifying the company’s position as a pioneer in the industry.