Three Firms Notify SEC of Plans to Run Tokenized Stock Venues

Three companies have notified the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of plans to operate tokenized securities venues, the regulator said in a Wednesday announcement. Tokenized Stock Venue, Perpetuals.com and OKX each submitted proposals to allow trading of tokenized stocks on their platforms.

The filings test a rule the SEC introduced in September, when the agency offered a five-year exemption to platforms that facilitate trading of tokenized stocks. The notification marks the first wave of firms formally positioning themselves under that framework.

The SEC cautioned that placement on the list does not guarantee compliance. The agency said Wednesday that appearing among the notified firms does not necessarily mean each company meets all requirements attached to the rule. The venues now face the operational task of demonstrating they satisfy the exemption's conditions before launching.

Who filed, and what did they propose?

OKX filed alongside the Intercontinental Exchange, and the two were the first movers with the regulator on tokenized securities trading. Their plans center on a new platform called OKXICE, which would debut tokenized securities trading under the joint filing.

Tokenized Stock Venue and Perpetuals.com followed with their own notifications. All three firms now sit on the SEC's published list of venues intending to operate under the September exemption, pending the regulator's assessment of whether each meets the rule's full requirements.

The filings arrive despite legislative paralysis in Washington. In September, lawmakers blocked the Clarity Act, a major digital asset bill, leaving the SEC to push ahead with crypto regulation through its own rulemaking rather than statutory mandates from Congress.

Why do firms want stocks on-chain?

Tokenized stocks put equities on blockchain rails, and proponents argue the structure lets traders operate around the clock. The 24/7 trading model is the core commercial pitch: it removes the session constraints of conventional exchange hours.

The technology extends a trend already established in traditional finance. BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have used blockchain rails for years to tokenize money market funds, giving the asset managers on-chain representations of cash-management products. Tokenized equities would apply the same infrastructure to a far broader asset class.

One precedent already exists in derivatives. In January, the S&P 500 approved a derivative contract by crypto platform Trade[XYZ] on decentralized exchange Hyperliquid, letting traders access the stock index on a continuous 24-7 basis.

How does the regulatory climate differ from 2023?

The SEC's posture has reversed under U.S. President Donald Trump. The agency under his administration is described as very pro-crypto, a shift from the enforcement-heavy approach of the previous Joe Biden administration, when the SEC sued major companies including Coinbase and Kraken and drew criticism for so-called regulation by enforcement.

Trump campaigned on a pro-crypto platform and has signed laws and executive orders aimed at supporting the digital asset sector since taking office. SEC Chair Paul Atkins has framed the agency's current agenda in explicitly technological terms.

Atkins said the regulator wants to "update" how it watchdogs securities and "modernize them in the age of blockchain and crypto assets." He has also stated that he wants the U.S. on track to be the "crypto capital of the world."

What happens next for the three venues?

The immediate question is compliance. The SEC has made clear that notification is not approval, and each of the three firms must satisfy the exemption's requirements before tokenized stock trading can begin. With a five-year exemption window now open and legislative action stalled in Congress, the agency's rulemaking has become the operative path for tokenized securities in the U.S. market.