US Exchanges Criticised the SEC’s Plan for Tokenised Stocks
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has paused progress on an initiative that could have allowed trading of tokenised stocks in the United States. The decision followed criticism from stock exchanges, which raised concerns about risks and unresolved issues related to launching such instruments.
According to Bloomberg, the regulator had been preparing a special framework for platforms offering digital versions of publicly traded company shares. The document was expected to be released soon, but the SEC decided to continue discussions after consulting market participants.
The Commission received hundreds of comments from banks, exchanges, investment firms, and crypto platforms. The main disputes concern investor protection, procedures for verifying ownership rights, and the legal status of tokenised securities.
Under the proposal, holders of tokenised shares would receive the same rights as owners of traditional securities, including dividends and shareholder voting rights.
Market participants are particularly concerned about the possibility of issuing tokens without the consent of the underlying companies. Exchange representatives believe that unauthorised digital versions of shares could create confusion and increase fraud risks.
Another unresolved issue is the identification of token holders across certain blockchain networks. Financial institutions fear that the absence of a transparent record-keeping mechanism could complicate transaction monitoring and regulatory compliance.
According to RWA.xyz, the volume of tokenised real-world assets has reached $34 billion. Of this amount, approximately $1.55 billion is attributed to tokenised equities.
Despite market growth, the pace of adoption remains below forecasts made by Citibank and McKinsey & Company, which had previously projected the market would surpass $1 trillion by 2030.
At the same time, experts acknowledge that RWAs currently remain one of the most promising sectors in the digital asset industry.
See also: "ICE and OKX Plan to Launch Perpetual Oil Futures"
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