Nasdaq CEO discusses tokenization benefits for global financial collateral
Business · 9 October 2026
Written by AI from multiple news reports
Nasdaq chief executive Adena Friedman spoke at the TOKEN2049 conference in Singapore this week about turning financial assets into digital tokens.
Friedman said that assets like government bonds and equities are often locked up as collateral in the financial system. Tokenization could free up tens of billions of dollars currently held this way. The process uses blockchain technology to represent assets as digital tokens, making them easier to move and use.
She also said retail investors have wanted round-the-clock trading for years. Institutions are roughly ten years behind in adopting this. Moving to a fully 24/7 market would require big changes across the industry, though updating exchange infrastructure would be the simplest part.