Tokenized stock platforms should get temporary exemptions from stock-exchange rules

How governments worldwide set rules for digital assets through legislation, agency rulemaking, licensing regimes and court fights.

Moving stocks, bonds, and other securities onto blockchains as tokenized assets, and the debates over investor protection, trading hours, and settlement.

Putting shares on blockchains raises questions about market hours, legal ownership and who controls where shares can trade.

On September 17, 2026, the SEC issued temporary, conditional exemptions for venues trading tokenized U.S. listed shares and certain liquidity providers. The framework permits specified trading arrangements while retaining investor-rights, issuer-notice and market-safeguard conditions.

In October 2026, nine U.S.-listed companies objected to tokenized versions of their shares trading on the proposed OKXICE venue. The objections test issuer control and investor protections under the SEC innovation exemption; a live U.S. launch has not been verified.