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The blockchain is coming to Wall Street. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) said on Monday that it was developing a platform to trade tokenized securities, digital representations of assets like stocks and bonds. But exactly when the 233-year-old financial institution will turn it on is still up in the air. Supporters of the technology argue that the change could modernize the NYSE, giving traders some of the same advantages that are enjoyed by investors in the cryptocurrency world. But Wall Street stalwarts are wary of altering a system that has been the bedrock of securities trading for more than two centuries. Curious what the fuss is about? Here’s what you need to know about the advantages and disadvantages that this sort of trading could mean for your portfolio: What are tokenized securities? Tokenized securities are digital versions of stocks and bonds that are traded on the blockchain, rather than a brokerage account. People who opt to use this platform would be able to use stablecoinsa crypto that pegs its value to another asset like the U.S. dollarto fund their trades. The biggest shift to the platform, though, would be the introduction of 24/7 trading, much like Bitcoin investors currently enjoy. For more than two centuries, the NYSE has transformed the way markets operate, said Lynn Martin, president of the NYSE Group in a statement. We are leading the industry toward fully on-chain solutions, grounded in the unmatched protections and high regulatory standards that position us to marry trust with state-of-the-art technology. When will the NYSE launch the new tokenized platform? That’s still very much up in the air, but Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which owns the NYSE, is hoping to launch trades on the platform later this year. First, it will need to get regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Trump administration has been encouraging a shift to crypto-friendly policies, though, which could bode well for the platform’s chances. Why is the NYSE starting a tokenized platform? Put simply, competition. Trading platform Robinhood has already proposed its own network of stock tokenization. And fintech companies like Coinbase and Kraken have shown an interest as well. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs, Bank of New York Mellon, and State Street are all working on projects that would digitize money-market fund shares. The NYSE is hoping to maintain its leadership position in the stock market, and to do so, it needs to meet the demands of traders. Will the tokenized platform replace traditional stock trading? No. The tokenized securities platform will operate as a separate addition to the NYSE. Traditional trading will continue uninterrupted and the opening and closing bell will still ring at the start and stop of trading five days a week (minus holidays). What are the advantages of tokenized securities? Proponents of tokenized securities point to the advantages of 24/7 trading. Under the system, trades could be funded and settled in real time. (Currently, there is a one-day delay.) That, they say, could increase traders’ liquidity, make fractional ownership of companies easier to achieve. And because trading could happen at any time, the new platform could make the NYSE more accessible to retail (individual) traders. What are the risks of tokenized securities? As with almost anything on the blockchain, there is a danger of fraud. Some critics, including a handful of Democrats in Congress, have warned that companies looking to raise capital via tokenized securities could use the platform to scam investors. Others point out that the technology is new and still relatively untestedand given the inherent risks of investing, it could open the door to substantial losses for retail investors. Citadel Securities has urged the SEC to move slowly on the matter, saying there needed to be crystal clear rules for companies that want to tokenize their assets. And JPMorgan, in a note to investors last August, wrote that despite the hype, there’s very little interest in tokenized securities. This rather disappointing picture on tokenization also reflects traditional investors not seeing a need for it thus far, it wrote. There is also little evidence so far of banks or customers moving from traditional bank deposits to tokenized bank deposits on blockchains. Are other major markets embracing this sort of system? Last September, the Nasdaq market asked regulators to approve trading of tokenized versions of Nasdaq-traded stocks. Since doing so would require the SEC amend some of its rules, including the definition of a security, that request has not received a final response yet. Changes would also have to go through a comment period before they could go into effect, letting opponents explain what they object to.
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E-Commerce
Tuesday is the first trading day on U.S. stock markets since President Donald Trump escalated his threats over Greenland this weekend. The president threatened additional tariffs on allied countries that objected to his desired takeover of the Danish territory. The geopolitical uncertainty that has emerged appears to be behind a decline in stock futures, particularly in Big Tech stocks. And that fall has reignited concerns about a revived Sell America trade. Heres what you need to know. Whats happened? As Fast Company previously reported, over the weekend, President Donald Trump issued economic threats against eight allied nationsand NATO memberswho spoke out against the presidents desire to acquire Greenland, a territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. Trumps threats included additional tariffs he says will be levied against goods imported to America from eight countries: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The president said an additional 10% tariff will be levied on those countries’ goods from February 1, and that additional tariff rate will rise to 25% on June 1 and last until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland, (sic). European leaders and the European Commission have reacted strongly to Trumps threats, repeatedly stressing that Greenland is not for sale and that allies dont threaten other allies with harsh economic consequences when one of them doesnt get their way. European governments are reportedly keen to resolve the situation diplomatically, but they are also considering a number of economic countermeasures should Trump go ahead with his plans to apply new tariffs on the stated nations. Countermeasures under discussion include retaliatory tariffs on American products entering Europe, as well as a never-before-used Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI). The ACI is a tool at the EUs disposal that could not only restrict trade with a target nation but also pause all investments in that nation and suspend intellectual property rights. Stock markets and Big Tech fall The geopolitical uncertainty Trump has raised with his Greenland escalation is keeping governments on both sides of the Atlantic on the edge of their seats. But they arent the only ones. Currently, investors appear to be in a state of major jitters due to the latest geopolitical hand grenade lobbed by Trump. As of the time of this writing, in premarket trading, Americas stock market futures are all down significantly across the board. This includes S&P futures, currently down 1.58%, Dow futures, currently down 1.38%, and Nasdaq futures, currently down 1.95%. And it’s not just the overall markets that are looking set to fall once the opening bell rings this morning. As of the time of this writing, Americas Big Tech companies are seeing their stock prices down across the board, including: Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL): down 1.22% Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN): down 2.93% Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOG): down 2.84% Meta Platforms (Nasdaq: META): down 2.58% Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT): down 1.73% Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA): down 2.45% Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA): down 2.65% Uncertainty or a revived Sell America trade? While U.S. markets were closed yesterday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, other assets traded as usual, including cryptocurrencies and precious metals like gold. Many major cryptocurrencies have fallen steadily since Trumps Greenland escalation over the weekend, while gold has reached all-time highs. But these moves arent surprising. The threat of America imposing economic retaliation on its NATO allies for refusing to relinquish Greenland to its possession generates a level of geopolitical uncertainty the world has not seen since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022. And such uncertainty almost always rattles investors, sending them fleeing from volatile assets like cryptocurrency to safe havens like gold. Yet what investors will be waiting to see today is whether the selloff in America’s Big Tech stocks is simply an ordinary, expected reaction we tend to see when geopolitical uncertainty arises, or whether it’s the beginning of a new Sell America trade. What is a ‘Sell America’ trade? The Sell America trade describes when global investors decide to sell off American assetslike U.S. stocks and bondseither to protect their profits from an economic downturn in the U.S. driven by geopolitical uncertainty, or as a punitive response to protest Americas actions they disagree with. Right now, its probably too early to tell whether Tuesdays premarket selloff in U.S. stocks is being driven by a renewed Sell America trade or whether it’s just a normal investor reaction to uncertain times. But expect to see much more speculation about the issue in the days ahead.
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E-Commerce
Like many industries, architecture has jumped on the artificial intelligence bandwagon. AI tools are becoming everyday parts of the practice of architecture, from iterating design concepts to optimizing floor plans to accelerating the creation of construction documents. Some architecture firms are even branding themselves as “AI-driven.” AI’s infusion into architecture is well underway, but it’s also an ongoing process. Firms are finding new ways of making these emerging tools work for the way they design buildings, while also grappling with what AI could do to a profession so dependent on actual human intelligence. Fast Company asked architects from some of the top firms working in the U.S. and around the world how AI is making its way into their work and business, and what we might expect to see in the next year as AI adoption continues. Here’s the question we put to a panel of designers and leaders in architecture: How do you see AI changing architecture in 2026? Fluid movement AI is moving from experimentation to expectation, particularly in early-stage exploration. Its real value isn’t replacing creativity but removing friction from the design process and making it easier for architects to express intent and quickly see viable options. Were moving toward a world where teams can load contextual project data and project outcomes and immediately explore design solutions, without getting bogged down in manual setup or repetitive tasks. With AI that supports seamless collaboration and iteration in context, architects will be able to collaborate freely with stakeholders and move fluidly between ideas, levels of details, and outcomes. The architects who succeed will be those who use AI to expand their creative range and sharpen decision-making, not replace it. – Amy Bunszel, EVP of architecture, engineering and construction solutions, Autodesk More rigorous and transparent design process In 2026, the question will no longer be whether firms use AI, but how responsibly and intentionally they do so. At WXY, we see AI as a way to make design processes more rigorous and transparent, not faster for the sake of efficiency alone. Used well, AI can strengthen analysis, clarify tradeoffs, and support more informed decision-making. Used poorly, it risks flattening complexity and distancing designers from accountability. The fundamental shift that AI will spur at WXY will be cultural, honing our understanding of judgment, authorship, and ethical use rather than the firm’s technical capability. – Claire Weisz, founding principal, WXY architecture + urban design Option curation, not object generation AI will continue to be less about sexy imagery, and more about rapid test-fitting. We’ve already created tools that incorporate climate analysis and evaluate massing iterations to maximize value for our clients. We will continue to develop systems with AI that enable option curation versus object generation, to assist more with early feasibility and storytelling. – Trent Tesch, principal, KPF Exploring, but safely AI is rapidly changing design practice, in everything from the legal review of contracts to building code reviews of design solutions to how we generate design visualization. Its greatest impact to date has been in areas of practice that have large data sets, or that focus on repetitive and easily automated tasks. When it comes to creative exploration, the tools are changing so rapidly that designers are working hard to keep up with everything from protecting our intellectual property to communicating, disseminating, and training applications across the firm. We are already sandboxing AI to help us explore different creative tools safely. – David Polzin, executive director of Design, CannonDesign Power of persuasion AI represents incremental (yet meaningful) gains in nearly every aspect of what we do as designers. From ideation and image generation to geometric optimizations and environmental analysis, AI is helping both architects and engineers move more quickly, be more creative, and communicate more persuasively. – Colin Koop, partner, SOM Augmented, not artificial, intelligence There is an amazing opportunity to test ideas; the challenge is people see it as an opportunity to speed up the process, but that will not happen. It is far more nuanced. We expect to see different types of people come into the professioncoders, data analystswhich will provide an opportunity to analyze how we work and craft a relevant tool to support the design solution. The emergence of AI has sparked debates about the future of design professions, particularly in the built environment sector. However, rather than threatening to replace architects, urban planners, and landscape designers, AI can reshape their role and amplify their capabilities. The design profession of the built environment stands at a crucial intersection where human creativity meets technological advancement, where spatial understanding meets digital simulation, and where physical materiality meets virtual modeling. Rather than being replaced by AI, design professionals’ roles aren;t diminishing but are evolving, becoming more vital than ever in our increasingly complex urban world. In a pervasive AI world, design and artificial intelligence should complement one another. Perhaps if we replace “artificial” with “augmented” we can get a better understanding how to use this powerful tool. While AI can process patterns and performance data, it cannot comprehend the subtle cultural tones, and community needs that inform great architecture and urban spaces. Designers bring this crucial layer of human insight, ensuring the built environment is not just technically efficient but culturally meaningful and socially sustainable. The future of architectural and urban design isn’t about choosing between human creativity and artificial intelligence it’s about leveraging both to create spaces that are more sustainable, livable, and impactful than ever before. – Nick Leahy, co-CEO and executive director, Perkins Eastman Human-AI collaboration In 2026, the biggest challenge is not simply AI itself, but how humans and AI systems collaborate effectively – new workflows, authorship, copyright, ethical frameworks, responsibility of charge, and decision-making approaches to leverage collaborative intelligence rather than treating AI as a standalone tool. We hav incorporated and will extend the use in 2026, of an AI “embedded partner”an always-on reasoning layer that synthesizes emails, text, images, slides, presentations, calculation, drawings, data, and real-time context to support architects and engineers across ideation, analysis, images, coordination, presentations, and decision-making, rather than replacing human authorship. By seamlessly integrating multimodal understanding, rapid scenario evaluation, cross-domain knowledge retrieval, and natural-language collaboration, this cognitive partner enables designers to think faster, test deeper, and act with greater confidence while keeping creative and ethical control firmly human-led. AI-enabled tools will accelerate early-stage design through rapid scenario testing, optimizing massing, structure, energy, carbon, daylight, and indoor air quality simultaneously, allowing teams to explore orders of magnitude more options while focusing human effort on judgment, synthesis, and design intent. Also, this process will be informed by past and present project data. – Luke Leung, sustainable engineering studio leader, SOM
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E-Commerce
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