SEC Grants Temporary Exemption for Tokenized Stocks Amid Crypto Bill Debacle
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued an order granting conditional exemptive relief to tokenized securities venues, allowing them to trade tokenized NMS stocks using permissioned automated market makers and liquidity pools. This temporary Innovation Exemption is seen as a bridge towards durable rulemaking, according to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins.
The move comes after the Senate blocked a sweeping crypto market-structure bill, known as the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, on September 15. The bill aimed to divide oversight of digital assets between the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Industry leaders have expressed relief that the SEC is taking action to provide regulatory clarity, despite the legislative defeat. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated that 'progress need not wait for Congress,' while Michael Saylor forecasted that traditional banks will expand their Bitcoin custody operations.