The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced a five-year exemption that clarifies how tokenized stocks can be traded in the United States while preserving full shareholder rights such as dividends and voting.

The exemption applies to tokens that represent actual shares of U.S. companies and carry the same rights as traditional stock. It does not cover synthetic products that merely track price movements without granting ownership rights. Firms that issue tokenized securities, including Securitize, Bullish and Superstate, as well as custodial models like Dinari, may benefit from the new framework.

The SEC also permits tokenized stocks to be traded through automated market makers on public blockchains, potentially expanding access for decentralized finance protocols such as Uniswap, Aerodrome and Raydium. However, participation will require compliance with know-your-customer rules, trading limits and other regulatory safeguards.

Public companies retain the ability to block tokenization of their shares by issuing a formal objection within a 30‑day notice period. This provision follows a recent dispute involving AMC Entertainment, whose CEO criticized Robinhood for offering stock‑linked tokens without the company’s consent.

Synthetic offerings from platforms such as Robinhood, Kraken and Ondo Finance, which provide price exposure without shareholder rights, fall outside the exemption and would need to adjust their models to operate under the new rules. Robinhood’s crypto chief, Johann Kerbrat, described the move as a "major step" toward bringing tokenized securities onto U.S. markets.

The exemption creates a regulated pathway for decentralized finance applications to engage with tokenized securities, though uptake may be limited by the need for permissioned infrastructure and asset approval processes. Analysts suggest that while the framework is a significant development, its immediate impact will likely be confined to a narrow set of products and participants.

Stock prices of companies directly involved, including Securitize and Bullish, rose modestly following the announcement. The SEC’s approach marks the first formal U.S. route for trading real tokenized stocks on public blockchains, potentially reshaping how traditional securities interact with blockchain technology.