The US Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing a policy that would let crypto firms offer blockchain-based versions of stocks, Reuters reported on June 17, 2026. The mechanism is an "innovation exemption" that SEC Chair Paul Atkins is expected to unveil soon, and it would let companies test tokenized equity products without first satisfying the full set of disclosure and investor-protection rules that govern traditional securities trading.
The reporting describes a meaningful loosening of how US markets treat equities that live on a blockchain. Under the exemption, a single firm could execute, clear, and settle trades at once without separately registering for each regulated function. That collapses a structure US markets have kept deliberately separate for decades.
A market that grew from nothing in 18 months
The timing tracks a fast-moving market. Tokenized stocks, blockchain instruments that mirror the price of a real equity, were worth just a few million dollars at the end of 2024. By June 2026 the segment had passed $6.4 billion, according to figures cited by Reuters. That is the curve a regulator responds to: the activity is already happening, much of it offshore, and the question is whether US firms can compete onshore.
Three names are already lined up. Coinbase, Robinhood, and Kraken are each preparing tokenized stock offerings, per the report. Coinbase has moved publicly here before, having brought 1:1 backed tokenized stocks onchain with dividends earlier this month. An exemption gives that work a clearer legal lane in the US rather than a patchwork of foreign entities and accredited-only wrappers.
The pitch versus the pushback
Supporters make a familiar case for putting equities on a blockchain: trading that runs 24 hours a day instead of stopping at the closing bell, settlement that finishes in seconds instead of a day, lower transaction costs, and deeper liquidity from a global pool of buyers. Those are the same properties that make stablecoins and onchain payments attractive, applied to shares.
The objections are pointed. Citadel Securities and SIFMA, which represent the incumbent market-making and brokerage establishment, oppose the exemption. Their argument is twofold. First, granting it through an exemption sidesteps formal rulemaking, the public notice-and-comment process that normally accompanies a change this large. Second, they warn tokenized trading could pull liquidity away from public exchanges, fragmenting the order flow that keeps quoted prices tight.
There is also a buyer-protection gap. A token that tracks Apple is not the same instrument as a share of Apple. Holders may not get the voting rights, the dividend treatment, or the bankruptcy-claim status that comes with registered equity, depending on how each product is structured. That distinction matters most precisely when something goes wrong, which is when retail buyers tend to discover it.
Not the SEC's first move on tokenization
The exemption would build on groundwork already laid. In March 2026 the SEC approved a Nasdaq rule change letting eligible participants settle certain securities as blockchain tokens that trade alongside ordinary shares under the same tickers and prices. That kept tokenized trading inside the regulated exchange perimeter. An innovation exemption points the other direction, toward letting crypto-native firms run their own venues with lighter obligations.
For anyone watching tokenization as a theme, this is the regulatory layer catching up to the product layer. The launches have been arriving steadily, from exchange listings to onchain S&P 500 exposure. A standing exemption changes the calculus by giving US operators permission to build at scale rather than around the edges.
The connection to onchain spending
Tokenized equities settle on the same rails that crypto cards draw from. When a balance can move instantly and around the clock, the line between an investment account and a spending account thins. A holder could, in principle, sit in a tokenized index position and convert to stablecoins for a card transaction without waiting for a settlement window or a market open. That is still a forward scenario, not a live product, but it is the direction the plumbing is pointing.
The honest caveat is that none of this is final. Reuters frames the exemption as poised, not issued, and the opposition from Citadel and SIFMA is organized and well-resourced. An exemption can be narrowed, delayed, or challenged. The $6.4 billion already onchain says the demand is real; the open question is whether the US framework that forms around it protects the people using it as well as the firms building it. This is reporting on a regulatory plan, not financial advice.
Overview
Reuters reports the SEC, under Chair Paul Atkins, is poised to issue an innovation exemption letting crypto firms offer tokenized stocks without full disclosure and investor-protection compliance. The tokenized equity market has grown from a few million dollars in late 2024 to over $6.4 billion as of June 2026, with Coinbase, Robinhood, and Kraken preparing products. Citadel Securities and SIFMA oppose the move, warning it bypasses rulemaking and could drain liquidity from public markets. The exemption would extend the SEC's March 2026 approval of Nasdaq tokenized securities trading.
