The five-year exemption comes shortly after the Senate failed to advance the Clarity Act, leaving the SEC to shape rules for tokenized securities under its existing authority|Ajay_Suresh|CC BY 4.0
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced yesterday that it has opened a new route for trading platforms to offer tokenized versions of publicly traded US stocks.
The regulator’s “Innovation Exemption,” effective immediately, temporarily gives blockchain-based trading venues and liquidity providers permission to facilitate stock-token trading if they meet specific investor-protection requirements.
The move could mark a step toward always-on trading of mainstream assets in digital form.
Right now, platforms like Coinbase and Robinhood can only sell tokenized versions of US stocks to people outside the country. These tokens are linked to real stocks, but having one doesn’t mean you actually own the stock. That’s changing today: the agency is giving itself a five-year exemption from its own rules, but with conditions.
- The token holders must receive the same rights as traditional shareholders, including dividends and voting rights.
- Companies can block their shares from being tokenized. Platforms must notify an issuer and wait 30 days before launching a token. If the company objects during that period, the platform cannot proceed.
The five-year exemption comes shortly after the Senate failed to advance the Clarity Act, leaving the SEC to shape rules for tokenized securities under its existing authority.
The move could accelerate blockchain-based trading in the US.
However, the SEC also imposed volume limits to reduce volatility and risks from thinner trading activity.