The SEC introduced a five-year Innovation Exemption on September 17, 2026, allowing qualified Tokenized Securities Venues to trade tokenized National Market System stocks on-chain without registering as exchanges

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

Traditional assets like treasuries, funds, stocks and real estate brought onto blockchains as tradable tokens.

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

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.