Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), is evaluating Avalanche (AVAX) as potential blockchain infrastructure for its planned 24/7 on-chain trading platform for tokenized securities. The disclosure came through a September 17 post on Avalanche's official X account, which quoted Michael Blaugrund, ICE's Vice President of Strategic Initiatives. No formal partnership or contract has been signed, and the remarks reflect an ongoing evaluation rather than a final decision.

ICE Weighs Avalanche for On-Chain Trading Venue

The statement was published by Avalanche's official X account on September 17, quoting Blaugrund directly:

“As we've evaluated different platforms, Avalanche checks a lot of those boxes for us, so we're very engaged with the team”

The full post from Avalanche official account (@avax) reads:

BREAKING: NYSE plans to bring 24/7 trading on chain with their in-development ATS platform “As we've evaluated different platforms, Avalanche checks a lot of those boxes for us, so we're very engaged with the team” – Michael Blaugrund of Intercontinental Exchange/NYSE pic.twitter.com/Ml9YSZtoCS

— Avalanche🔺 (@avax) September 17, 2026

An alternative trading system (ATS) is a trading venue regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that operates outside a traditional national securities exchange. ICE's planned ATS is intended to allow tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to trade around the clock, with on-chain settlement and stablecoin-based transactions — a departure from regular NYSE sessions, which run from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET on weekdays. Tokenized securities are traditional financial instruments represented as digital tokens on a blockchain, allowing ownership and transfer to be recorded on-chain.

Avalanche is a layer-1 smart contract blockchain — a base network that runs independently rather than on top of another chain — and its network is under evaluation as the foundational infrastructure for the planned 24/7 tokenized-securities platform.

ICE announced its tokenized-securities platform plans in January 2026, aiming to combine the NYSE Pillar matching engine with on-chain settlement to support 24/7 trading of tokenized stocks against stablecoins.

According to Blaugrund, ICE has identified several considerations for the project, including performance, institutional wallet support, interoperability, and the ability to connect with other parts of securities infrastructure. He said Avalanche currently satisfies many of those requirements.

Any final system would still need to interface with transfer agents, stablecoin issuers, broker-dealers, and broader market infrastructure such as the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), which provides post-trade clearing and settlement services for U.S. securities markets.

If ICE ultimately selects Avalanche, the decision could represent a significant institutional use case for a public blockchain within traditional securities infrastructure. It could also provide a high-profile example of how public blockchain networks might be incorporated into tokenized-securities markets.

Evaluation, Not a Done Deal

Despite the direct mention, no formal partnership or contract between ICE and Avalanche has been confirmed. Blaugrund's comments describe an ongoing evaluation, not a finalized decision, and no timeline for a selection has been announced. ICE has not issued a formal announcement of its own, and Avalanche has not confirmed a signed agreement. As of publication, the signal originated solely from Avalanche's own account, with no independent statement issued by ICE or NYSE — leaving a formal confirmation, a signed agreement, or a selection timeline as the key items to watch.

ICE does maintain an established relationship with Securitize around the project. In March, NYSE and Securitize announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) under which Securitize would serve as the first digital transfer agent eligible to support blockchain-native securities on the planned NYSE-affiliated platform.

Regulatory Context

The SEC took a major step toward enabling on-chain trading of tokenized U.S. stocks on September 17, when it moved to allow such activity through temporary conditional exemptions. ICE's and NYSE's specific platform, however, remains subject to its own regulatory and operational requirements.