TradFi & Fintech
From banks, to asset managers and payments apps, these are the financial firms operating on top of traditional rails and non-blockchain infrastructure.
Top Stories

NYSE Parent ICE and OKX Form 50-50 Joint Venture for Tokenized Equities, Co-Chaired by Andrew Cuomo
Intercontinental Exchange and OKX will build a U.S. broker-dealer to route OKX's customers into NYSE tokenized equities and ICE futures, pending regulatory approval.

Franklin Templeton Closes 250 Digital Acquisition, Launches Franklin Crypto for Institutional Allocators
The $1.78 trillion asset manager stands up a dedicated institutional crypto unit, extending a platform that already includes the BENJI tokenized money-market fund and a proposed pair of dividend-into-bitcoin ETFs.
Recent articles

NYSE Parent ICE and OKX Form 50-50 Joint Venture for Tokenized Equities, Co-Chaired by Andrew Cuomo
Intercontinental Exchange and OKX will build a U.S. broker-dealer to route OKX's customers into NYSE tokenized equities and ICE futures, pending regulatory approval.

Franklin Templeton Closes 250 Digital Acquisition, Launches Franklin Crypto for Institutional Allocators
The $1.78 trillion asset manager stands up a dedicated institutional crypto unit, extending a platform that already includes the BENJI tokenized money-market fund and a proposed pair of dividend-into-bitcoin ETFs.

Morgan Stanley Files Amended S-1s for Spot Solana and Ethereum Trusts
Morgan Stanley's amended S-1 filings for its spot Solana and spot Ethereum trusts name BNY Mellon and Coinbase Custody as joint custodians, set a 0.14% sponsor fee, and reserve the tickers MSOL and MSSE on NYSE Arca. Both products include staking provisions.

Andrew Cuomo Tapped to Co-Chair OKX-ICE Crypto Joint Venture
Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo will co-chair a joint venture between OKX and NYSE owner Intercontinental Exchange with ICE futures-exchanges chief Trabue Bland. Cuomo has advised OKX on policy since 2022, spanning the exchange's $504 million DOJ settlement. The venture is the consumer-facing wedge of ICE's $25 billion strategic tie-up with OKX.

Coinbase Teases 1:1-Backed Tokenized U.S. Stocks With On-Chain Dividends
Coinbase announced plans for what it calls the first tokenized U.S. stocks backed 1:1 by actual shares, with automatic on-chain dividend distribution. The exchange described the product as 'no derivatives, no IOUs,' a direct contrast to the synthetic equity structures currently dominating on-chain equity trading.

BlackRock Launches BITA, a Covered-Call Bitcoin ETF Designed to Generate Monthly Income
BlackRock listed the iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF (BITA) on Nasdaq, overlaying a covered-call strategy on IBIT to generate monthly income while capping upside participation.

DBS Bank to Offer Tokenized Physical Gold to Retail Customers in Singapore
Singapore largest bank will let retail customers buy, hold and trade tokenized gold backed by 1 gram of physical bullion stored in a DBS vault, launching via its digibank app in H2 2026.

Binance Converts Stock Holdings Into On-Chain Tokens With bStocks Launch
Binance has activated its tokenized-equity layer, converting live stock positions on its brokerage platform into BNB Chain tokens tradable around the clock. The first five bStocks include Nvidia, Tesla, Circle, Micron, and Sandisk.

Citi Rolls Out Tokenized Private-Company Shares for Wealth and Institutional Clients
Citigroup is making tokenized interests in private companies available to wealth-management and institutional clients on SIX Digital Exchange, the Wall Street Journal reported. The bank has already completed its first transaction and is in talks with additional private firms.

Binance Stock Trading Draws 84% of First-Week Volume From Emerging Markets
Binance's direct stock-trading platform drew more than 80% of its first-week volume from emerging markets, with assets under management crossing $400 million within seven days. The 2% share of TradFi-referenced perpetuals volume positions the June 1 launch as a distribution play for underserved retail users.