The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) delayed its proposal to enable the trading of tokenized stocks through cryptocurrency companies, a measure that it initially expected to present this week and whose postponement was reported on May 22, 2026.
The decision came while the regulatory body evaluate observations carried out by stock exchanges and other market participants about the scope of the initiative. Under the proposal being analyzed by the SEC, cryptocurrency platforms could operate tokenized versions of shares of public companies through an innovation exemption, a regulatory mechanism aimed at testing new market models.
One of the elements that generated the most debate was the possibility of allowing the issuance and trading of tokens linked to shares. without support or consent of the issuing companies. Under this scheme, third parties could create digital representations of listed shares and offer them within platforms based on cryptocurrency networks.
The proposal contemplated that these tokens will retain the same rights as a traditional shareincluding dividends and participation in corporate voting. However, former officials and regulators questioned how that mechanism could be ensured when assets change hands within networks where transactions can be carried out pseudonymously.
Among those expressing reservations is Brett Redfearn, a former chief trading officer at the SEC and current executive at a tokenization company. Redfearn warned that if third parties can issue tokenized representations without the companies’ participation, There may be no practical limit to the number of versions of the same action. available on the market.
This scenario would open the door to parallel markets for assets already listed on traditional exchanges. The concern is that multiple representations of the same action can fragment liquidity, generate price differences and reduce clarity for investors on the effective value of the assets.
On the other hand, Commissioner Hester Peirce, considered close to the president of the organization, Paul Atkins, pointed out that expects the exemption to be limited in scope and only allow trading in digital representations linked to shares that can already be purchased on secondary markets.
It is worth noting that Stock tokenization is not a new idea and already exists in other international markets, as reported by CriptoNoticias. Proponents argue that it can offer continuous trading 24 hours a day, faster settlements and greater efficiency in price formation.
Among its promoters is Ian de Bode, president of Ondo Finance, who stated that the continuous trading of tokenized shares could solve liquidity problems and facilitate permanent operations. Likewise, traditional operators also support this direction. The New York Stock Exchangetogether with the tokenization firm Securitize, develops a platform for continuous trading and immediate settlement of tokenized shares, while Nasdaq works in similar initiatives aimed at modernizing the stock market infrastructure.
For the moment, SEC postponement does not eliminate proposalbut it does show that the regulator is trying to define how far the integration between traditional financial markets and cryptocurrency networks can advance. The final decision could become a precedent to determine whether tokenized stocks evolve as a controlled extension of the stock market system or as a parallel market with its own rules.