With Lise, France inaugurates the first fully tokenized stock exchange in Europe

France is moving forward in the modernization of its financial markets with the launch of the Lightning Stock Exchange (Lise), a fully tokenized exchange dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Backed by several major French banks and now holding a new regulatory license, Lise aims to bring blockchain efficiency to traditional IPOs and transform the way companies access the capital market.

Regulatory green light paves way for tokenized IPOs in 2026

Lise plans to launch its first tokenized IPO in early 2026, becoming Europe's first fully tokenized stock exchange dedicated to SMEs. Based in France, the platform has obtained the Distributed Ledger Trading and Settlement System (DLT TSS) license from the Prudential Control and Resolution Authority (ACPR), a key step which now allows it to operate legally within the European Union.

This authorization marks an important milestone, allowing Lise to operate as a regulated tokenized stock exchange within the European Union.

Mark Kepeneghian, CEO of Lise, emphasizes that this approval positions the platform as the first regulated tokenized stock exchange in Europe. According to him, this progress constitutes a significant step towards the region's transition to a fully digital market infrastructure. He adds that this authorization places Lise at the forefront of the digital transformation of European financial markets.

This license allows us to operate the first fully tokenized stock exchange in Europe, offering a concrete response to financing challenges. It opens capital markets to SMEs and mid-caps, while channeling private savings towards productive European companies.

Mark Kepeneghian

The exchange benefits from the support of major French financial institutions, including BNP Paribas and Bpifrance. It operates as a subsidiary of Kriptown, which presents itself as a “neo-stock exchange” dedicated to startups and SMEs, linking traditional finance and digital assets.

Lise leverages EU DLT license to merge trading and settlement on a single platform

The DLT TSS license operates within the framework of the DLT pilot regime established by the European Union in March 2023. This regulatory framework governs the trading and settlement of financial instruments based on blockchain technology.

This regime creates a controlled environment for market participants to test distributed ledger technologies (DLT) while remaining compliant with the European MiFID II directive. It aims to encourage innovation without compromising investor protection or market stability.

With this license, Lise can merge trading and post-trade functions into a single digital infrastructure. This architecture combines the roles of a multilateral trading facility (MTF) and a central securities depository (CSD), enabling faster transaction settlements, reducing operational costs and improving market efficiency, a major change for the financial ecosystem.

Lise prepares to redefine IPOs with the launch of tokenized stocks in 2026

Lise appeared in April 2025 with the mission of fundamentally rethinking the IPO process through asset tokenization. The company wants to simplify procedures, reduce costs and facilitate access to public financing for small and medium-sized companies. By issuing shares in the form of digital tokens, the platform wants to increase investor participation and improve the liquidity of securities.

According to Mark Kepeneghian, the first tokenized IPOs are planned for early 2026, once issuer onboarding and final operational testing is completed.
This first offering will serve as proof of concept for Lise's model, before ramping up with up to ten new tokenized IPOs by 2027.

Caceis joins the initiative to build a European tokenized market infrastructure

Lise's vision benefits from strong support from major financial players. In August, Caceis, the asset services arm of Crédit Agricole, acquired a minority stake in Kriptown to finance the launch of the exchange.

Caceis specified that this investment is part of its strategy aimed at promote transformation digitalization of the financial sector and to build sustainable infrastructure for tokenized markets.

Lise's arrival on the European capital markets scene illustrates the growing interest of institutions in tokenized financial securities. This dynamic is a continuation of similar initiatives carried out by exchanges such as Gemini and Kraken, which already offer tokenized securities products to European investors.