According to Bloomberg, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had planned to launch as early as this week an "innovation exemption" framework for tokenized stocks, but has now delayed its release. Regulators are evaluating feedback from traditional exchanges and other market participants, leading to the postponement.
This exemption is related to “Project Crypto,” spearheaded by SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, aimed at easing certain restrictions on crypto businesses. As previously discussed, regulators had once considered permitting third parties to issue and trade tokenized U.S. stocks, even without direct authorization from the underlying public companies.
Traditional exchanges raise objections
The report noted that the SEC recently engaged with exchange representatives and other market participants. Concerns centered on two main points: first, investor protection could be weakened; second, crypto platforms might gain regulatory advantages not available in traditional securities markets.
The World Federation of Exchanges previously wrote to the SEC in November 2025, stating that granting tokenized stocks clearer legal status before a full compliance framework is in place could have negative implications for the U.S. market. The organization’s members include Nasdaq, Cboe, and CME Group.
Two tokenization pathways have diverged
Regarding how the U.S. stock market could integrate on-chain technology, two distinct approaches have emerged. One is led by traditional exchanges, advancing tokenization within the existing trading framework. The other allows crypto-native platforms to establish a parallel tokenized trading market outside the current market structure.
Nasdaq received SEC approval in March 2026 to advance its tokenized securities program. Its model keeps trading within the exchange system while preserving full shareholder rights, utilizing the enterprise-grade blockchain technology of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC).
The same stock may have multiple token versions.
In contrast, if the "innovation exemption" currently under review by the SEC is implemented, it could allow multiple third parties to issue tokenized versions of the same stock and trade them on crypto markets. This could fragment liquidity for the same underlying asset across different issuers and trading platforms.
The SEC's delay in releasing this framework reflects ongoing deliberations between accelerating innovation and maintaining the integrity of existing securities markets. For crypto platforms, traditional exchanges, and institutions planning to participate in tokenized securities, future regulatory developments remain a key short-term focus.