The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved a five-year regulatory framework for the “Innovation Exemption.” The decision legalizes, for the first time, the trading of blockchain-based tokenized stocks in the United States.
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev commented on the regulator's decision on X with a succinct phrase: “Tokenization is coming to America.”
According to him, U.S. investors will finally gain access to the benefits of on-chain infrastructure: 24/7 trading, instant settlement, and fractional stock ownership by default. Robinhood has already confirmed its support for the initiative.
The SEC's approval came in response to the prolonged impasse in Congress, which has failed to pass the relevant CLARITY Act. Instead of waiting for a comprehensive legislative framework, the commission created a controlled, temporary “sandbox” for testing the technologies.
Under the new rules, qualified platforms (Tokenized Securities Venues) are allowed to move traditional NMS stocks into an on-chain environment. Trading will be conducted through automated market makers (AMMs) and liquidity pools.
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The SEC's reform also brings an end to the high-profile public dispute Vlad Tenev had with traditional businesses during the first half of September.
Earlier, AMC CEO Adam Aron criticized the idea of tokenizing stocks on third-party platforms without the issuers' consent during an appearance on CNBC. Tenev countered that if a company is already publicly traded, its management should not have veto power over the creation of new technological products built around its shares.
Ultimately, the regulator found a legal compromise. Brokers can tokenize any freely tradable shares, but they are required to officially notify the issuer. The company will have exactly 30 days to exercise its veto (opt-out) right. If the management of a hypothetical AMC or Apple formally objects, trading digital versions of their shares on that particular platform will be prohibited.
For Robinhood, this decision represents an important tactical victory. On September 5, Tenev said that a “global supercycle of tokenization” was inevitable, describing distributed ledger technology as the only way to free investors from intermediaries and the rigid time constraints of traditional exchanges.