SEC Opens 5-Year Path for Tokenized US Stocks as Senate Crypto Bill Stalls
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Sep 17
SEC Opens 5-Year Path for Tokenized US Stocks as Senate Crypto Bill Stalls
2 articles · Updated · CNBC · Sep 17
Summary
Effective immediately, the SEC granted a five-year Innovation Exemption letting certain trading venues and liquidity providers offer tokenized versions of publicly traded U.S. stocks if they meet set conditions.
Two conditions sit at the center of the order: token holders must get the same rights as traditional shareholders—including dividends and voting—and issuers can block tokenization by objecting within a 30-day notice period.
Volume limits were added to curb volatility and thin-market price swings, while the exemption gives the agency a live market test rather than a formal rulemaking.
The move came two days after the Clarity Act failed in the Senate, pushing the SEC to draw boundaries for tokenized securities through existing authority under its Project Crypto initiative.
Coinbase, Robinhood, Gemini and Kraken already offer tokenized equities offshore, and Robinhood said it will add 1:1 share redemption and voting rights as tokenization edges toward the U.S. market.
If public companies use their 30-day window to block tokenization, could this regulatory breakthrough quietly fail before it begins?
Will the SEC's new 5-year exemption finally bridge Wall Street and DeFi, or just create a fragmented, low-liquidity market?
How will traditional markets react when billions in tokenized blue-chip shares are suddenly used as collateral in decentralized finance?
U.S. Tokenized Equities Top $2 Billion as CLARITY Act Stalls: Inside the Regulatory Battle Over Crypto Stocks and 24/7 Trading
Overview
The CLARITY Act, intended to create clear rules for digital assets in the U.S., stalled in the Senate due to partisan disputes over ethics and President Trump’s crypto ties, as well as industry splits and banking sector pressure. This failure caused a sharp drop in Bitcoin’s price and market confidence, while the odds of the bill passing collapsed. With Congress deadlocked and the legislative calendar cut short, regulatory responsibility shifted back to agencies like the SEC and CFTC, which began crafting their own rules. As a result, uncertainty grew, prompting warnings from industry leaders that U.S. competitiveness could suffer if clear laws are not established soon.