Binance founder Changpeng Zhao predicts that initial public offerings (IPOs) will eventually move onto blockchain networks as tokenized stock trading expands and U.S. regulators propose rules that explicitly account for blockchain-based securities. This forecast comes as Binance's bStocks product, which lets users trade tokenized versions of public company shares, reached $30 billion in cumulative trading volume roughly three months after its June 2026 launch.

What Does It Mean for IPOs to Move On-Chain?

When Zhao says "IPOs will move on-chain," he's describing a future where companies conduct their initial public offerings using blockchain infrastructure rather than relying solely on traditional stock exchanges. This doesn't mean IPOs would abandon securities regulations; instead, they would use blockchain technology to record ownership, settle trades, and manage share transfers while remaining within the existing federal securities framework.

When Zhao

The infrastructure for this shift is already taking shape. In July 2026, Securitize partnered with Cantor Fitzgerald to build a system that allows public companies to conduct IPOs and follow-on offerings using blockchain while adhering to established capital-markets rules. Securitize then demonstrated this model by listing on the New York Stock Exchange and offering issuer-sponsored tokenized shares on Solana (SOL) and Avalanche (AVAX) blockchains to eligible U.S. investors, with those shares remaining regulated securities.

How Are Regulators Supporting This Shift?

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed significant transfer-agent rule changes on September 1, 2026, that explicitly account for blockchain technology in securities offerings, ownership records, and share transfers. Transfer agents are intermediaries that manage shareholder records and process share transfers; the SEC's proposal modernizes rules that have not received a substantive overhaul in decades while keeping transfer agents inside the existing federal securities framework.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated that the transfer-agent proposal is meant to reflect current operations, including blockchain use in securities offerings and share transfers, though it does not erase securities-law requirements. This regulatory acknowledgment signals that blockchain-based securities infrastructure can coexist with traditional market safeguards.

What Are the Practical Benefits of On-Chain Securities?

Supporters of on-chain securities point to several potential advantages that could reshape how capital markets operate. These benefits include faster settlement times, wider access to investment opportunities, and the ability to trade outside conventional exchange hours. However, eligibility and legal rights still depend on each product's structure and regulatory classification.

The infrastructure supporting tokenized equities is spreading across multiple blockchain networks. Ondo Finance has expanded tokenized U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) across multiple blockchains, including BNB Chain and Solana, demonstrating that this is not a single-platform phenomenon but a broader market trend.

How to Understand the Timeline of Tokenized Stock Growth

• June 2026: Binance launched bStocks, its tokenized stock trading product, marking a major exchange entry into the space.
• July 2026: Securitize listed on the New York Stock Exchange and began offering issuer-sponsored tokenized shares on multiple blockchains to eligible investors.
• September 1, 2026: The SEC proposed transfer-agent rule changes that explicitly account for blockchain technology in securities offerings and share transfers.
• September 8, 2026: Binance's bStocks cumulative trading volume reached $30 billion, prompting CZ's prediction about the future of on-chain IPOs.

During 2026, tokenized equities moved from smaller experiments toward larger commercial platforms, giving Zhao's forecast a market backdrop that did not exist at the same scale a year earlier. The convergence of exchange products, regulatory clarity, and infrastructure partnerships suggests that the conditions for on-chain IPOs are maturing faster than many observers anticipated.

"IPOs will move on-chain," Zhao wrote on X, making the prediction as Binance's bStocks product passed $30 billion in cumulative trading volume about three months after its June launch.

Changpeng Zhao, Founder of Binance

Zhao's remark pointed to a broader shift in capital-market infrastructure as crypto platforms and regulated securities firms build products tied to public equities. It's important to note that Binance already offers pre-IPO perpetual contracts that let users take positions on a company's valuation before its shares begin trading on a public exchange, though those contracts are not IPOs themselves.

The convergence of regulatory support, exchange innovation, and infrastructure development suggests that blockchain-based securities are transitioning from a niche experiment to a mainstream capital-markets tool. Whether IPOs fully migrate on-chain remains to be seen, but the market momentum and regulatory acknowledgment indicate that the traditional boundaries between blockchain finance and conventional securities markets are becoming increasingly blurred.