Chai

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Canton

Calypso

On <a href="https://x.com/Nasdaq" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@Nasdaq</a>’s third-quarter earnings call, CEO <a href="https://x.com/adenatfriedman" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@adenatfriedman</a> named collateral as the clearest near-term business in tokenization. She pointed to a test with Vanguard and Wellington on <a href="https://x.com/CantonNetwork" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@CantonNetwork</a>, the chain behind <a href="https://x.com/search?q=%24CC&amp;src=cashtag_click" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$CC</a>. <cite>"The more immediate opportunities sit in this idea of collateral management, collateral mobility,"</cite> Friedman said, according to a summary of the call by BigGo Finance.
<h2 id="what-the-canton-test-showed">What the Canton test showed</h2>
Friedman described the trial as a proof of concept in which <cite>two major investment management firms used Canton to move collateral from one collateral pool to another, and it worked instantly and perfectly.</cite><cite>The firms were Vanguard and Wellington.</cite>
Nasdaq's Roland Chai, head of Digital Liquidity Networks, has described the technical set-up. <cite>Money market fund securities were tokenized using Nasdaq technology and issued as digital tokens on the Canton Network, a privacy-enabled blockchain built by Digital Asset.</cite><cite>Each token represented a direct, legally enforceable interest in the underlying fund shares.</cite>
<cite>Standard margin calls were generated within Nasdaq Calypso, with the platform's collateral management workflows extended to recognize the tokens as eligible instruments.</cite><cite>The pledging party transferred tokens from its Canton wallet to the secured party's wallet, with settlement finality occurring in real time and each firm's collateral inventory updated automatically within Calypso.</cite>
The participants were named publicly in August, according to a Canton ecosystem review. Nasdaq's own filing places the trades earlier: <cite>early in the third quarter, two of the world's leading asset managers completed tokenized collateral trades on the Canton Network, transmitting tokenized money market funds through Calypso.</cite>
<h2 id="why-collateral-first">Why collateral first</h2>
Banks, brokers and investment firms routinely pledge securities to support derivatives and financing positions. <cite>Fragmented custody systems, settlement delays and operational requirements often force institutions to hold additional collateral buffers.</cite> That is the inefficiency tokenization aims to reduce.
Friedman has made similar arguments elsewhere. <cite>Speaking to CNBC at the TOKEN2049 conference in Singapore on October 8, 2026, she identified U.S. Treasury securities, equities and money market funds as assets that could become more transferable through tokenization.</cite>
Caution is warranted on timing and revenue. FinanceFeeds noted that <cite>the transactions demonstrated technical feasibility but did not represent a market-wide commercial rollout.</cite> On the second-quarter call, analysts pressed on adoption, and a transcript summary notes that <cite>the Canton trades were a proof of concept, with monetization likely to come through a new Calypso module and the pace left unquantified.</cite>
Nasdaq's wider tokenization plans are also moving. <cite>The company remains on track to launch its equity token in the first half of 2027, and is working with DTCC on a tokenization service and with Kraken on instant settlement for retail trades.</cite>
Sources
<a href="https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/10/22/nasdaq-ndaq-q3-2026-earnings-call-transcript/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Nasdaq Q3 2026 earnings call transcript (Motley Fool)</a> <a href="https://finadium.com/nasdaqs-chai-on-the-buy-side-tokenizing-collateral/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Nasdaq's Chai on the buy-side tokenizing collateral (Finadium)</a> <a href="https://financefeeds.com/nasdaq-ceo-says-tokenization-could-unlock-tens-of-billions-of-dollars-across-global-finance/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Nasdaq CEO on tokenization and collateral (FinanceFeeds)</a>

Nasdaq’s CEO says tokenized collateral is the nearest win, pointing to a Canton Network test

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