SEC discussed creating a regulatory sandbox for trading tokenized stocks

The agency will be able to use the outcome of the pilot legal regime in drafting legislation

14.04.2025 - 09:55

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3 min

What’s new? The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has said it is ready to launch a regulatory sandbox for digital assets that would allow crypto exchanges to experiment with various products and services, including offering tokenized securities. SEC commissioners discussed the issue at the agency’s second-ever roundtable on digital assets.

Material by Decrypt

In tokenization, ownership of assets (e.g., securities) is converted into digital coins on a blockchain that can be traded around the clock without intermediaries, increasing liquidity, cost-effectiveness, and accessibility to a wide range of investors.

What else is known? The proposed experimental legal regime will allow industry companies to test innovative products from both technical and commercial perspectives, and the SEC will be informed by the results to develop appropriate legislation.

Crypto task force within the SEC will develop new rules for the industry

Group head Hester Peirce criticized the regulatory approach formed by former chairman Gary Gensler

The concept of a digital securities sandbox was proposed as early as last year by one of the five SEC commissioners, Hester Peirce, known in the community as a crypto mom. However, the commission was then headed by Gary Gensler, who was hostile to cryptocurrencies, and the idea failed to gain traction.

In a new discussion, Democratic Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw noted that even temporarily allowing unregulated crypto exchanges to trade tokenized stocks and bonds could carry risks not only for individual investors, but also for the banking system and the broader traditional finance sector.

OpenSea team asks the SEC to confirm that there is no authority to regulate NFT marketplaces

Two months earlier, the SEC dropped its investigation against OpenSea

Last week, the US Senate approved the nomination of crypto attorney Paul Atkins to head the SEC. His nomination was proposed by President Donald Trump. Atkins was previously the head of consulting firm Patomak Global Partners, whose clients include crypto exchanges and DeFi protocols.

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