SEC Delays Broad Exemption for Tokenized Asset Trading

The Securities and Exchange Commission has pulled back on plans to release a broad exemption allowing U.S. crypto firms to trade tokenized stocks and other tokenized assets, Bloomberg reported Friday. The move slows a high-profile effort to integrate blockchain into mainstream securities markets.

The agency's staff had been preparing to release the so-called innovation exemption as soon as this week, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. But the timeline has shifted as the SEC absorbs feedback from stock-exchange officials and other market participants who have held discussions with agency staff in recent days.

A central sticking point is a provision that would permit trading in third-party tokens—digital representations of company shares issued without the knowledge or approval of the underlying corporations.

That prospect has alarmed some former regulators and market experts, Bloomberg said, who warn it could create thorny problems for public companies trying to administer dividends and count shareholder votes as tokens proliferate across networks.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins had previously indicated the agency would soon debut its proposed innovation exemption that could function as a regulatory sandbox for on-chain equities. The delay affects companies preparing to launch tokenized asset projects under the anticipated framework.

Amid criticism of the delayed exemption, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce defended the proposal's narrow focus.