U.S. SEC Gives Implicit Nod for Tokenized Stocks
TL;DR
The SEC has implicitly approved tokenized stocks and securities through a no-action letter to DTCC, allowing tokenization of Russell 1000 constituents, ETFs, and U.S. Treasuries on approved blockchains for three years starting in 2026.
Key Takeaways
- •The SEC granted implicit approval via a no-action letter for tokenizing stocks and securities on approved blockchains.
- •The authorization covers Russell 1000 index constituents, major index ETFs, and U.S. Treasuries for three years.
- •Tokenization aims to improve efficiency and faster settlement in financial markets, with major TradFi players like JPMorgan and BlackRock involved.
- •The service rollout is planned for the first half of 2026, highlighting institutional adoption of blockchain technology.
What to know:
- The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. said on Thursday that a subsidiary received a no-action letter from the U.S. SEC on offerings of tokenized real-world assets.
- The letter implicitly grants approval for the offering of certain tokenized stocks on approved blockchains for three years.
- The authorization applies to the constituents of the Russell 1000 index and exchange-traded funds tracking major indexes and U.S. Treasuries.
- The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. said on Thursday that a subsidiary received a no-action letter from the U.S. SEC on offerings of tokenized real-world assets.
- The letter implicitly grants approval for the offering of certain tokenized stocks on approved blockchains for three years.
- The authorization applies to the constituents of the Russell 1000 index and exchange-traded funds tracking major indexes and U.S. Treasuries.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) implicitly granted approval for some stocks and other securities to be tokenized and traded on blockchains.
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC), the world's largest securities settlement system, said on Thursday that a subsidiary, the Depository Trust Co. (DTC), received a no-action letter allowing it to offer a tokenization service on approved blockchains for three years.
Tokenization is the process of representing stocks, bonds and other real-world assets (RWAs) as digital tokens that can be bought, sold and traded on blockchains, with the aim of achieving greater efficiency and faster settlement.
Some of the biggest names in traditional finance (TradFi), including JPMorgan and BlackRock, have developed projects in this area, demonstrating the potential institutional investment that they can draw to blockchain finance.
The Depository Trust Co.'s authorization applies to the constituents of the Russell 1000 index, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking major indexes and U.S. Treasuries. It plans to begin rolling out the service in the first half of 2026.
A no-action letter is a formal response from the agency to a company stating that the regulator will not take any enforcement action for a proposed activity.
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
- A feud conducted over U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) correspondence has developed between Citadel Securities and the DeFi sector, arguing over whether DeFi protocols should be more regulated.
- The DeFi space is calling out the investment firm for its approach to the securities regulator.
Disclosure & Polices: CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of Bullish (NYSE:BLSH), an institutionally focused global digital asset platform that provides market infrastructure and information services. Bullish owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets and CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish equity-based compensation.