The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has spent the past year testing Avalanche blockchain technology as it explores infrastructure for a planned tokenized-securities platform, according to Ava Labs President Charley Cooper, as first reported by BitcoinKE.

The testing has involved integrating Avalanche technology with NYSE systems and assessing both the network's technical capabilities and the economics of using it, Cooper said during the Avalanche Summit, a conference for the Avalanche ecosystem, in New York. Avalanche is a layer-1 smart-contract blockchain developed by Ava Labs.

Cooper described a close working relationship between Ava Labs and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), NYSE's parent company, but stopped short of saying that Avalanche had been selected for the exchange's planned platform.

"I leave it to the NYSE guys to talk publicly about where they are in the whole process," Cooper said.

Michael Blaugrund, ICE's Head of Strategic Initiatives, who appeared alongside Cooper at the summit, said the company was "very engaged" with Avalanche as it evaluates blockchain platforms, adding that Avalanche "checks a lot of those boxes for us."

NYSE, the world's largest stock exchange, announced in January 2026 that it was developing a platform for the trading and on-chain settlement of tokenized U.S. equities and exchange-traded funds, subject to regulatory approval. Under the proposed design, orders would be matched through the exchange's existing Pillar matching engine, while post-trade processes such as settlement and custody would be handled on-chain — a hybrid structure that would keep order matching within the exchange's established technology while shifting post-trade activity onto blockchain rails. The architecture is intended to support multiple blockchains rather than a single network, and the exchange has not specified which blockchain networks the platform will use.

Tokenization, the practice of representing traditional financial assets such as stocks or funds as digital tokens recorded on a blockchain, has become an increasing focus for exchanges, banks and asset managers, with institutions piloting ways to issue, trade and settle digital versions of conventional securities.

ICE has also agreed to work with tZERO, a blockchain-based trading platform, on infrastructure for the planned tokenized-securities market, a step that underscores how the initiative involves multiple layers of market infrastructure rather than reliance on any single blockchain technology.

The Avalanche evaluation comes as U.S. regulators move to accommodate on-chain securities markets. On September 17, 2026, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission introduced a five-year exemption for certain platforms trading tokenized stocks, allowing qualifying venues to operate outside some traditional exchange and dealer-registration requirements. NYSE's planned platform remains subject to regulatory approval, a requirement that keeps its progress tied to the evolving U.S. regulatory landscape for on-chain securities.

The development places Avalanche among the blockchain networks being evaluated as traditional financial-market infrastructure moves toward on-chain trading and settlement. For those tracking market structure, the year-long engagement offers a view into how the world's largest stock exchange is approaching blockchain adoption: through extended technical evaluation rather than early commitments. What remains unresolved is whether NYSE secures the regulatory approval its platform requires and which blockchain networks the exchange ultimately names — details that will shape the platform's path from testing toward operation.