Paris-based Lise (Lightning Stock Exchange) has become the first company in Europe authorized to operate a fully tokenized stock exchange, the company announced on Thursday.
The exchange, which targets the SME IPO market in France, has received a DLT TSS license from the French financial regulator, ACPR, under the EU’s distributed ledger technology pilot scheme, according to a press release.
The authorization, developed with input from the Banque de France, ESMA, AMF and the European Central Bank, allows Lise to combine the roles of Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) and Central Securities Depository (CSD) within a single digital framework.
Lise’s shareholders include CACEIS (subsidiary of the Crédit Agricole group), BNP Paribas and Bpifrance. The tokenization-friendly exchange targets French companies with a market capitalization of less than €500 million ($582 million) and seeks to have at least half of the issuers be SMEs with a valuation of less than €200 million.
“This license allows us to operate the first fully tokenized stock exchange in Europe, providing a direct response to real-world financing challenges,” said Mark Kepeneghian, CEO of Lise.
Lise plans to list its first SME and mid-cap IPOs in early 2026, focusing on sectors such as energy, infrastructure and defense.
For investors, this model could make it easier and more transparent to gain exposure to small, growing European companies. For policymakers, it is a test in the use of blockchain technology to simplify and modernize capital markets.
