- U.S. regulators confirmed banks can treat tokenized securities like traditional ones, giving institutions clearer rules to adopt blockchain assets.
- Tokenized public equities reached about $1.1B, while the broader tokenized RWA market has already grown to nearly $26B.
- A technology-neutral rule means blockchain infrastructure will not change capital requirements for banks holding tokenized securities.
Federal regulators have issued clear guidance on tokenized securities, signaling a major shift in how banks can manage these assets. The Federal Reserve, FDIC, and the OCC jointly clarified that tokenized securities should receive the same capital treatment as traditional securities under existing bank capital rules.
This guidance ensures banks can integrate blockchain-based assets without facing stricter capital requirements. Hence, banks now have regulatory clarity to hold these assets while maintaining sound risk management practices.
The guidance comes amid increasing interest in tokenized securities. Often called “tokenized” when ownership rights are represented via distributed ledger technology, these assets now fall under the same capital rules as their non-tokenized counterparts.
Consequently, banks can confidently hold tokenized securities without worrying about differential treatment. Additionally, regulators emphasized the technology-neutral nature of the capital rule. Whether a token operates in a permissioned or permissionless system, the capital treatment remains consistent, extending even to derivatives based on tokenized securities.
Growing Adoption and Market Impact
Tokenized securities have grown rapidly, reaching an estimated $1.1 billion in public equities, according to RWA.xyz. Moreover, the total tokenized real-world assets (RWA) market stands at approximately $26 billion. However, only a few firms issue experimental stock tokens directly on the blockchain.
Most tokenized securities are created by third parties using shares of well-known publicly traded companies. Big players like Franklin Templeton and BlackRock have even tokenized treasury products, showing that major institutions are starting to embrace this trend.
Crypto companies are jumping on the opportunity as well. Robinhood, Kraken, and Gemini have rolled out tokenized shares in Europe, giving more investors easier access to these digital assets. As crypto expert Ash Crypto said, “This new clarification essentially means banks have now been officially approved to hold these assets.”
Regulatory Consistency and Future Outlook
The SEC has been clear in their intention that tokenized securities will be treated the same way as regular securities. This means that all the rules and regulations governing regular investments will also apply to the digital assets that fall under this category.
The banks will still need to hold the right amount of capital to ensure the system is stable and liquid. By treating derivatives and tokenized products the same, there is no room for people to manipulate the system.
The rules also don’t make the system more complicated, especially when it comes to the aspect of tokenization, as it is technology-neutral. This means that the banks and other financial institutions will be able to look into new strategies involving digital assets while still being able to comply with the rules governing capital.