In a move aimed at modernizing the plumbing of Wall Street, Nant Global Finance, Inc. (NANT) has announced the launch of a fully integrated, blockchain-enabled capital markets platform. The new ecosystem combines traditional regulated brokerage and investment banking with real-time blockchain settlement, positioning itself as a bridge between legacy finance and the era of digital assets.
The announcement follows a series of strategic moves by NANT to consolidate the infrastructure required to trade, settle, and record securities using smart contracts.
A Massive Infrastructure Play
NANT has finalized the 100% acquisition of several key players in the fintech space, including:
Horizon Globex GmbH: The technology provider powering the Upstream exchange.
Equity Stock Transfer and BlockAgent: Two U.S.-based transfer agents that manage investor records and digital asset custody.
In addition to these completed deals, NANT has entered into agreements to acquire full ownership of three FINRA-regulated entities: AOS, Inc. (parent of TradingBlock and MoneyBlock), Digital Offering, LLC, and Arkonis Capital LLC. These acquisitions are currently pending regulatory approval, with NANT currently holding a 24% stake in each.
High-Profile Backing and Media Strategy
The venture is backed by Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, cancer researcher and owner of the Los Angeles Times Media Group. Dr. Soon-Shiong, who joins the NANT advisory board, brings a portfolio of 65 blockchain and smart-contract patents to the firm.
The Los Angeles Times Media Group will serve as a strategic partner to drive investor education and market visibility. This includes a partnership with the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for floor-based broadcasting and live-streaming, ensuring NANT’s digital initiatives have a direct line to the traditional investing public.
The Shift to Real-Time Settlement
While many blockchain firms focus on private assets or cryptocurrencies, NANT is targeting the multi-trillion-dollar public markets. The company’s goal is to transition traditional National Market System (NMS) securities—like those traded on the NYSE and NASDAQ—into a tokenized format.
The primary benefit of this shift is instantaneous settlement. Currently, most stock trades take one to two days to settle; NANT’s infrastructure is designed to handle these transactions in real-time, significantly reducing counterparty risk and lowering costs for both institutions and individual retail traders.
Leadership and Vision
The firm is led by a veteran management team including CEO Mark Elenowitz and President Vincent Molinari.
“The operating system of U.S. capital markets is being rebuilt to embrace tokenization,” said Dr. Soon-Shiong in a statement. “This infrastructure is needed so that the nearly $3 trillion in securities trades per day settle in a nearly instantaneous and more cost-effective manner.”
Once the pending acquisitions receive FINRA approval, NANT intends to operate as a consolidated, multi-licensed financial group. This will include its own Alternative Trading System (ATS), allowing broker-dealers to access NANT’s liquidity and blockchain settlement tools through custom-branded applications.
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