SEC Tokenization Exemption Meets $15.75B Offshore Trading Volume

The SEC granted a five-year waiver allowing regulated US stocks to be traded on permissioned blockchain platforms on Sept. 17, two days after the Senate blocked the CLARITY Act on a 49-50 procedural vote. The legislative failure removed a comprehensive market-structure framework from the near-term agenda, leaving agency action as the immediate regulatory vehicle. SEC Chair Paul Atkins linked the exemption to the stalled bill, stating the agency is operating “within its statutory authority” to support on-chain trading.

The exemption addresses a market that is already active offshore. Tokenized stocks reached a record $3.2 billion in market capitalization, a 1,219.3% increase over the past year. Over the last 30 days, these products generated $15.75 billion in decentralized-exchange volume. A significant portion of that activity occurs outside traditional trading hours: $2.95 billion traded on weekends when US exchanges are closed. According to Token Terminal, weekend turnover rose 4.4-fold in three weeks, climbing from $360 million to $1.6 billion per weekend.

Robinhood Crypto General Manager Johann Kerbrat viewed the move as a signal that the sector is ready for US participation. “This is a major step by the agency and will allow liquid tokenized securities markets to develop onshore. Smart regulation accelerates innovation.”

Grayscale noted in late August that roughly 5% of the tokenized-equity market had been deployed in on-chain finance. The firm argued that regulatory changes could enable security and payment legs to settle together on-chain. The exemption is temporary, expiring in five years, which provides the SEC with a period to collect trading data before determining a permanent framework. Issuers retain veto power over the tokenization of their securities, and venues must comply with transparency and recordkeeping standards.