Soon-Shiong owned 65.5% of ImmunityBio as of its April proxy record date.
- Founder Patrick Soon-Shiong said Nant will launch blockchain and tokenized stocks.
- The SEC’s five-year exemption creates a pathway for qualifying venues to trade tokenized U.S. stocks.
- Nant is assembling brokerage, transfer-agent, exchange and blockchain-settlement capabilities.
Shares of ImmunityBio, Inc. (IBRX) logged their best week in over two weeks just as founder Patrick Soon-Shiong teased an upcoming push into blockchain-based stock trading at Nant, prompting retail speculation that the cancer-drug developer’s shares could eventually be tokenized.
Soon-Shiong is ImmunityBio’s executive chairman and global chief scientific and medical officer. He was also listed as the owner of 745.5 million IBRX shares, or 65.5% of the company, as of its April 2026 proxy record date. His ownership spans several affiliated entities, including Nant Capital, Cambridge Equities and NantWorks.
SEC Clears Path For Tokenized Stocks
“The future is here. Watch this space as we launch blockchain and tokenized stocks at Nant,” Soon-Shiong said Sunday on X, sharing a report about the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new framework for tokenized securities. Soon-Shiong’s post followed the SEC’s “Innovation Exemption” last week, which created a five-year pathway for qualifying venues to trade tokenized versions of U.S.-listed securities.
Eligible tokens must provide the same dividends, voting rights and proxy rights as traditional shares. Platforms using third-party tokens must notify the issuing company 30 days before listing them, and the company can object.
Venues must also use automated market makers, publish auditable smart contracts and halt trading when the stock’s primary exchange does.
Nant Builds Blockchain Trading Platform
Nant Global Finance announced its blockchain-enabled capital-markets platform in January. The business is assembling broker-dealer, transfer-agent, exchange and blockchain-settlement capabilities through completed and pending acquisitions.
Its disclosed deals include Horizon Globex and its Upstream Exchange technology, transfer agents BlockAgent and Equity Stock Transfer, and interests in TradingBlock, Digital Offering and Arkonis Capital.
Soon-Shiong joined Nant Global Finance’s advisory board and contributed a portfolio of issued and pending blockchain and smart-contract patents held through affiliated entities. At the January launch, he called blockchain-enabled tokenization “the missing link” for making capital markets more efficient and added, “NantX — more to come.”
IBRX Bulls Eye Tokenization And Short Sellers
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for IBRX jumped to ‘bullish’ from ‘neutral’ levels a week ago amid ‘high’ message volume.
“Tokenization is THE big deal,” one user said, arguing that real-time matching of buyers and sellers could limit trading without confirmed ownership.
Another user speculated that IBRX tokenization could begin within six to eight weeks once Nant completes its planned infrastructure. They suggested that blockchain settlement could reduce the creation of so-called phantom shares and pressure short sellers to cover their positions.
Retail traders also questioned whether PDS Biotechnology (PDSB) could eventually join ImmunityBio on the proposed platform. Nant Capital led PDS Biotech’s September private placement, which could raise as much as $22.3 million. Soon-Shiong and NantBio Chief Financial Officer James Banaag joined the PDS board at the initial closing, while NantWorks received a one-year exclusive option to negotiate a license for PDS0101.
IBRX stock has jumped 328% year-to-date.
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