SEC's advisory group backs tokenized securities push, outlines how to keep it safe

Policy Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email SEC's advisory group backs tokenized securities push, outlines how to keep it safe The committee that steers the U.S. securities regulator on investor issues voted to support a new effort to regulate stock transactions on blockchains. By Jesse Hamilton | Edited by Nikhilesh De Mar 12, 2026, 9:56 p.m. Make us preferred on Google An advisory group for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission made recommendations on tokenized securities. (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk) What to know : The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is pushed by its Investor Advisory Committee to move forward on tokenized securities regulations. The committee voted for recommendations that outline how such rules should proceed, citing needs for mandatory reporting and fairness in customer orders. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said the process is already underway to issue some direction to the industry to allow regulated tokenization. A committee that advises the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recommended the agency move forward on a tokenized-securities policy that would allow traders to cut out the kind of go-between settlement that Wall Street investment firms have relied on for decades. The SEC's Investor Advisory Committee voted Thursday to recommend narrow exemptions for the blockchain-based innovation for the trading of stocks, as long as the activity comes with mandatory disclosures, routine outside supervision and "a requirement that the trading of tokenized equity securities seeks to ensure that all investors receive the best terms for their orders." These crypto assets still meet the definition of securities under the law, as SEC Chairman Paul Atkins has regularly contended, which means the activity needs parallel safeguards to the traditional system. Atkins said his agency is working toward formal regulations on tokenization. Now this work has the backing of an official recommendation from the committee, whose members include veterans from major trading firms, institutional investors and academics. The traditional approach to stock trading features brokers, transfer agents and centralized settlement databases and can take a day or more to execute, but in placing that same stock on-chain, "the delivery of the tokenized security and the payment can happen as a single transaction, with ownership records embedded directly into a single blockchain." The group told the commission that the newer approach doesn't come without risks: "The most significant risk associated with the tokenization of equity securities is that these reforms or grants of exemptive relief could introduce new risks that investors do not understand and impose higher costs that outweigh the benefits of tokenization," according to the recommendation document approved by the committee . In remarks on Thursday , Atkins praised the committee for its "recognition that tokenization can enhance settlement efficiency, reduce settlement risk, and eliminate unnecessary intermediaries. "I expect the Commission to soon consider an innovation exemption to facilitate limited trading of certain tokenized securities with an eye toward developing a long-term regulatory framework," he said. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Paul Atkins Tokenized Equity Regulations More For You Donald Trump to hold another Mar-a-Lago lunch for his token holders By Nikhilesh De | Edited by Aoyon Ashraf 1 hour ago The U.S. President will be the keynote speaker at a "gala luncheon" for the top 297 holders of the $TRUMP token. What to know : The top 297 holders of the $TRUMP token will be invited to a lunch on April 25 at Mar-a-Lago, the company behind the token announced Thursday. The event at Mar-a-Lago comes just under a year after $TRUMP holders were invited to a previous dinner at the same venue. The last dinner saw lawmakers raise concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump profiting from an industry he appointed regulators to oversee. 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