SEC plans to announce a new regulatory framework for tokenized stocks as soon as Friday.
Regulation & Gov ·
The SEC is preparing to introduce regulatory clarity for tokenized stocks, with an announcement potentially coming as soon as Friday. The agency plans to roll out an "innovation exemption" that would permit blockchain-based versions of equities like Apple, Tesla, and Nvidia to trade around the clock in fractional amounts with near-instant settlement, according to reporting citing Bloomberg. These tokenized instruments would track a stock's economic value but carry no voting or dividend rights, justifying lighter regulatory oversight.
The move reflects Chair Paul Atkins' "Project Crypto" initiative and arrives as tokenized stocks have emerged as one of the year's most significant onchain growth drivers. Activity has surged across platforms including Robinhood Chain, where real-world asset volume jumped fivefold over the summer, plus major implementations on Solana and Base. Institutional players including the NYSE, BlackRock, and Circle have already begun building infrastructure in this space. Until now, much of this ecosystem has operated in regulatory ambiguity, with significant volumes directed to non-US users.
A formal SEC exemption would provide the legal framework currently absent from the sector and potentially unlock US retail participation in products these chains were designed to support. The timing matters: this proposal follows separate SEC plans to introduce "Regulation Crypto," a framework for capital raises via token sales with reduced securities registration requirements. The full scope and precise timeline for implementation remain to be clarified.