Bullish, Alpaca and Apex form issuer-backed token coalition

Bullish, Equiniti, Alpaca, Apex Fintech Solutions and DriveWealth formed the Issuer Sponsored Token Coalition. The group was unveiled on Thursday. Bullish and Equiniti convened the coalition. Equiniti is being acquired by a crypto platform. The group said it plans to develop standards for technical systems, settlement and custody. It also plans to develop ways to move securities between traditional market infrastructure and blockchain networks. The coalition focuses on issuer-sponsored tokenization. This structure links a tokenized share to a company's official shareholder register. It is designed to preserve voting rights, dividends and participation in corporate actions. Brokers, issuers and regulators are debating the difference between tokenized shares and synthetic products that only track prices. Some products offer stock exposure without always giving holders direct ownership of the underlying shares.