Securitize eyes acquisitions with $400 million war chest after going public, CEO says

Securitize (SECZ) plans to use its newly-strengthened balance sheet to pursue acquisitions to expand its tokenization business following its public listing, CEO Carlos Domingo told CoinDesk in an interview.

"One of the things we're going to be looking at is acquisitions because we obviously don't need $400 million to run the company," Domingo said. "We're going to have a very strong balance sheet."

The company, which began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday after completing its SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners II, raised more than $400 million and retained roughly 70% of the SPAC trust, giving it fresh capital to fund its next phase of growth.

Securitize has emerged as one of the largest infrastructure providers for the tokenization market, helping asset managers issue traditional securities on blockchain rails. Founded in 2017, the company provides issuance, transfer agency and fund administration services for tokenized securities, with clients including BlackRock, Apollo, KKR, Hamilton Lane and VanEck.

The firm has issued roughly $4.4 billion in tokenized assets, including BlackRock's $2.2 billion tokenized U.S. Treasury money market fund BUIDL and nearly $300 million of tokenized Securitize shares, making it the largest tokenized asset issuer, according to RWA.xyz.

The firm is not interested in buying rivals, Domingo said. "They’re not going to bring anything to me that I don’t have in terms of tech."

Instead, Domingo said Securitize is looking at businesses that complement its institutional tokenization offering, aiming to build a broader "one-stop shop" for customers.

"We’re going to look at what things are adjacent to tokenization that either our existing customers from the tokenization space," he said.

Tokenization of public markets

The broader tokenization market has grown rapidly as banks, asset managers and exchanges embrace blockchain-based financial infrastructure. Tokenized real-world assets now exceed $32 billion, RWA.xyz data shows. Citi has projected tokenized securities could grow into a $5.5 trillion market by 2030, while Boston Consulting Group and Ripple estimate the sector could reach $18.9 trillion by 2033.

Much of that momentum is now shifting beyond tokenized Treasury funds toward public markets.

Earlier this year, NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) partnered with Securitize to develop infrastructure for tokenized equities. The company also teamed up with transfer agents Computershare and Continental to enable public companies to issue shares directly on blockchain rails.

Elsewhere, Nasdaq has publicly explored tokenization initiatives, while DTCC, the backbone of U.S. securities settlement overseeing more than $114 trillion in assets, recently unveiled plans to introduce a tokenized securities platform targeting an October launch.