The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) new experiment with tokenized stocks could give an early advantage to a particular corner of crypto: firms that put real securities on blockchains and the decentralized crypto platforms built to trade them in a regulated manner.

The agency’s framework favors tokens that represent actual U.S. shares and carry the same rights as traditional stock, including dividends and voting rights.

That thesis is central to this new exemption. “This is extremely positive because it gives a way to trade real tokenized stocks,” Carlos Domingo, CEO of digital asset and real-world asset tokenization platform Securitize, told CoinDesk.

That leaves room for different tokenization models, ranging from issuer-sponsored projects to custodial structures, while excluding synthetic products that only provide price exposure. Meaning it could potentially favor firms working directly with issuers, custodial models that preserve full shareholder rights and transfer agents over platforms that simply create stock-linked products.

The agency also opens another door on the trading side.

Tokenized stocks can trade through automated market makers (AMMs) on public blockchains, potentially bringing decentralized finance (DeFi protocols closer to U.S. securities markets. However, whichever platforms they trade in, they must have controlled access through KYC, trading limits and comply with other regulatory guardrails.

Real shares coming onchain

Securitize’s Domingo said the SEC’s move is a strong validation for tokenized shares that represent the actual underlying security, or a full security entitlement

He added that the framework reinforces the case for issuer-sponsored tokenization and "will accelerate the adoption of native tokenized security.”

Bullish BLSH$35.46, CoinDesk’s parent company, is also expanding its tokenization business by acquiring the transfer agent Equiniti. And according to Thomas Cowan, global head of tokenization at Bullish, the move is “a step in the right direction.”

“It’s showing that regulators are thinking about how to enable AMMs and new market structure,” said Cowan.

Still, Cowan cautioned that the exemption should be viewed as a controlled first step rather than the arrival of a full-fledged onchain stock market.

“It is definitely not a broad opening that the crypto community was looking for for tokenized stocks to grow immediately, but it is a fantastic start for the future of the financial markets and what is possible,” he said.

“I expect over the coming weeks, months we'll see issuers rethink products to conform with these rules," Robert Leshner, CEO of Superstate, which offers issuer-sponsored tokenization.

"New products will be designed and launched."

CoinDesk is holding its annual Policy and Regulation summit on Sept. 22 in Washington, D.C., featuring SEC Crypto Task Force Chief Counsel Taylor Lindman. Register here.

TokenizationTokenized EquitiesSECDeFi Related Assets Ethereum$2,454.662.43% BNB$727.471.71% Raydium$1.476.04% Related Stocks Bullish$35.46+10.54% Latest Crypto News
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