Coinbase Shares Surge on SEC Exemption for Tokenized Stocks

Coinbase shares jumped 4.5% in trading after the SEC issued an Innovation Exemption for tokenized stocks, allowing platforms to trade digital tokens representing U.S. equities without standard exchange registration.

The exemption gives eligible venues and liquidity providers a five-year path to trade tokenized representations of U.S. stocks, with issuers able to block tokenization if they object within 30 days, according to an SEC spokesperson.

Coinbase already offers tokenized equities offshore but not yet to U.S. customers. The company is also letting eligible U.S. individual investors request IPO allocations through its app via Coinbase Capital Markets.

The market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business, with shares trading at $203.28, up 5% from the previous close.