Wall Street giants push back on exemptions for tokenized securities in SEC meeting

Policy Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Wall Street giants push back on exemptions for tokenized securities in SEC meeting Executives and industry groups pressed regulators to apply traditional securities rules to blockchain-based trading, pushing back on exemptions even as DeFi enters the debate. By Olivier Acuna | Edited by Nikhilesh De Jan 28, 2026, 5:55 p.m. Make us preferred on Google Top Wall Street players met with the SEC over tokenized securities and need for a level playing field. (Photo by Nikhilesh De/Modified by CoinDesk) What to know : Representatives from SIFMA, Cahill Gordon & Reindel, Citadel and JPMorgan met with the SEC’s Crypto Task Force to argue that tokenized securities should be regulated under existing federal securities laws rather than a separate regime. The firms warned that allowing tokenized assets to trade under looser standards could undermine investor protections and market-structure rules, and urged the SEC to rely on formal rulemaking instead of informal staff guidance. While DeFi was only briefly discussed in the meeting, the session and a related SEC speech on 24/7 trading highlighted growing alignment between regulators and major financial institutions that tokenization changes market plumbing but not the economic reality of securities. Five Wall Street firms met with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force Tuesday to discuss regulatory approaches to digital assets and decentralized finance (DeFi) and how tokenized securities should be treated under existing federal laws. According to the SEC memo, published Tuesday, representatives from the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP, Citadel LLC and JPMorgan Chase & Co. requested the meeting to follow up on recent letters to the commission and its Crypto Task Force. STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the State of Crypto Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms & conditions and privacy policy . During the meeting, the participants argued that securities should not be allowed to trade under different rules simply because they are issued or transacted on blockchain rails, warning that regulatory shortcuts could allow tokenized equities or other securities to bypass longstanding investor-protection and market-structure requirements. They also urged the SEC to rely on formal rulemaking, rather than, for example, than broad exemptive relief. The Wall Street firms said they agreed that innovation in digital markets should advance within the guardrails of investor protection and market integrity. They argued against broad, immediate exemptive relief for tokenized trading activities, saying that tokenization changes market plumbing, not the underlying economic reality of securities. Tokenized instruments, whether issued natively or through entitlement or “wrapped” structures, were framed as economic equivalents of traditional securities. The meeting took place nearly a month after Citadel released a 13-page letter advising the SEC that DeFi protocols handling tokenized securities demand a closer regulatory grip. The crypto industry immediately responded with its own correspondence , calling the arguments "baseless." Citadel’s letter came amid broader debate over how the SEC should regulate DeFi and tokenized securities, drawing swift criticism from parts of the crypto industry. DeFi was not a central topic during the meeting and was referenced only insofar as it raises regulatory questions for trading tokenized securities, particularly around how exchange, broker-dealer and market-access rules might apply to decentralized or hybrid models. Broader DeFi activity, such as lending or governance, was not discussed. Speaking Wednesday at a SIFMA roundtable on 24/7 trading , SEC Trading and Markets Director Jamie Selway said that “some non-equity markets, such as those for digital assets, currently operate 24-by-7,” adding that a “growing consensus of market participants wants the equity markets to follow this course.” Selway said expanded trading hours could strengthen U.S. market competitiveness if implemented with shared infrastructure, common protocols and careful attention to operational risks such as corporate actions. Overall, the meeting at the SEC reflected increasing convergence between regulators and major financial institutions around a shared premise: tokenization may modernize markets, but it does not require a separate regulatory regime. SEC Wall Street Cryptocurrency Tokenized Securities More For You Pudgy Penguins: A New Blueprint for Tokenized Culture By CoinDesk Research Dec 30, 2025 Commissioned by Pudgy Penguins Pudgy Penguins is building a multi-vertical consumer IP platform — combining phygital products, games, NFTs and PENGU to monetize culture at scale. What to know : Pudgy Penguins is emerging as one of the strongest NFT-native brands of this cycle, shifting from speculative “digital luxury goods” into a multi-vertical consumer IP platform. Its strategy is to acquire users through mainstream channels first; toys, retail partnerships and viral media, then onboard them into Web3 through games, NFTs and the PENGU token. The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility. View Full Report More For You White House to meet with crypto, banking executives to discuss market structure bill By Nikhilesh De , Helene Braun 23 minutes ago A vote on the legislation was delayed earlier this month after hitting resistance over how it proposes regulation regarding stablecoins. What to know : The White House plans to meet with executives from major crypto firms and traditional banks to discuss the stalled digital asset market structure bill. The legislation has faced resistance over its proposed rules for stablecoins, especially limits on interest-bearing or reward-linked features tied to dollar-pegged tokens. The summit is hosted by the White House's crypto policy council. 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