On-chain IPO redefines global listing rules, Brian Armstrong predicts the capital market will usher in an era of disintermediation

On January 26, news reports indicate that Brian Armstrong, CEO of the United States’ largest compliant CEX, recently stated that the company’s future listing methods will undergo structural changes, with traditional IPOs potentially being gradually replaced by “on-chain IPOs.” An on-chain IPO refers to companies issuing tokenized stocks via blockchain, allowing share issuance, trading, and settlement to be completed entirely on the chain, thereby bypassing the currently inefficient traditional financial system.

Brian Armstrong pointed out that the current IPO process is not only slow but also extremely costly. On average, a company spends about $300 million to go public, covering investment banking fees, legal audits, and complex compliance procedures. More importantly, preparing for an IPO often takes several years, which significantly increases opportunity costs for fast-growing tech companies and forces a slowdown in innovation.

This environment also directly changes the development path of companies. Firms established in the 1980s typically entered the public market after about five years, but now they often remain private for nearly 20 years. The fundamental reason is that regulatory rules like the Sarbanes-Oxley Act have raised disclosure and compliance thresholds, turning going public into a high-risk, high-burden project. As a result, only large venture capital firms and a few institutional investors can participate early in growth dividends, while ordinary investors are excluded.

On-chain IPOs are seen as an important tool to break this pattern. By tokenizing stocks and deploying them on the blockchain, companies can directly issue assets to global investors, with trading and clearing completed within minutes, no longer relying on multiple layers of intermediaries. Smart contracts can automatically execute compliance, dividend distribution, and equity registration operations, reducing human error and operational costs, while also enhancing transparency and security.

Of course, on-chain IPOs are not without challenges. The current legal system is not designed for blockchain-native securities, and how regulations will adapt remains uncertain. Privacy protection and investor rights also require new technological and institutional frameworks. However, from Brian Armstrong’s statements, it is evident that more and more industry leaders believe that blockchain-based stock issuance and digital asset securitization will become a key direction for the next phase of global capital markets.