The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is finalizing a framework that would allow blockchain-based digital versions of publicly traded stocks to trade on cryptocurrency platforms — a move that signals how far Washington has come in its relationship with an industry it once treated with suspicion.
According to Bloomberg a report Published on Monday, the SEC plans to issue an “innovation exemption” for tokenized securities as early as next week. The proposal, under development by an agency now led by President Paul Atkins, would create a lighter regulatory path for platforms that offer digital representations of stocks without having to fully comply with registration. The SEC did not respond to requests for comment.
What makes a framework notable is what the tokens will and won’t be. Under the reported structure, third parties can issue tokens that track the price of a public company’s shares without that company’s support or approval.
The tokens will be traded around the clock on decentralized crypto platforms. It would not carry traditional shareholder rights: no votes at annual meetings, no dividend checks, and no seat at the table when the company makes decisions that affect its shareholders.
Token shares Faster settlementIt operates across borders without friction with legacy infrastructure, and could open up stock markets to investors that have historically been closed off due to geography or cost. The vision is ambitious: Proponents want to put the plumbing of the $126 trillion global stock market on the rails of blockchain.
The lack of approval from underlying companies and the elimination of shareholder protections raise uncomfortable questions about what investors are actually buying – and who is responsible when things go wrong.
Wall Street, SEC embrace tokenized products
The SEC’s announced shift comes at a moment when Wall Street has gone from observing tokenization from a distance to racing toward it. Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, located in the US Securities Clearinghouse, Announced plans To begin limited production runs of the token in July, with a broader launch in October. The DTCC’s involvement is important: it processes and protects the vast majority of US market transactions, and its entry into tokenization lends institutional credibility to what until recently was an experimental frontier.
Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange did not stay on the sidelines either. The Securities and Exchange Commission approved a Nasdaq rule change in March to support tokenized stock trading — which preserves traditional property rights.
The New York Stock Exchange, whose parent company is the InterContinental Exchange It also entered into a partnership With cryptocurrency exchange OKX, it received its SEC approval in April and is building a platform for 24/7 on-chain settlement.
The token stock market is already growing at a pace that exceeds most expectations. Data from RWA.xyz He appears The sector now has $1.4 billion in value spread across more than 2,200 assets – a number that has risen by almost 30% in just the past 30 days. The volume of monthly transfers reached $3.24 billion. The cardholder base grew by 25% in one month to reach approximately 265,000 people.
Atkins has framed The SEC’s direction as a matter of regulatory clarity. He said current securities rules are designed for a world of human intermediaries and fixed trading hours — not for blockchain protocols that integrate exchange, clearing and settlement functions into a single layer. He said the agency should be writing rules rather than pursuing enforcement actions to shape how these markets develop.
This argument has weight in the current political climate. Republican-led Senate Banking Committee advanced Cryptocurrency legislation came out earlier this month, part of a broader effort under the current Trump administration to build a more specific regulatory framework for cryptocurrency products and digital assets.
