New York Stock Exchange owner Intercontinental Exchange is investing up to $2 billion in Polymarket and will partner with the company on future tokenization initiatives.

Polymarket lets users buy and sell shares of potential event outcomes, with every trade matched peer-to-peer through smart contracts. The company, which was founded in 2020, has been sought out by people interested in expressing their opinions on current events, politics, business moves, culture and sports.

Shayne Coplan, founder and CEO of Polymarket, said in a statement that the deal is a “major step in bringing prediction markets into the financial mainstream.”

Tokenization is the process of turning real-world assets into digital tokens. It uses blockchain technology that powers cryptocurrencies to create digital tokens as stand-ins for things such as bonds, real estate or even fractional ownership of a piece of art and that can be traded like crypto by virtually anyone, anywhere at any time.

Advocates say tokenization is the next leap forward in crypto and can help break down walls that have advantaged the wealthy and make trading cheaper, more transparent and more accessible for everyday investors.

Critics say tokenization threatens to undermine a century’s worth of securities law and investor protections that have made the U.S. financial system the envy of the world.