According to SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, the agency possesses exemptive authority that allows it to address tokenized securities without initiating formal rulemaking proceedings. In response to a CoinDesk inquiry, she emphasized, “We can proceed through rulemaking, but it is not mandatory to do so.”
In March, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins characterized the emerging policy as “an innovation exemption designed to enable limited trading of specific tokenized securities while we develop a comprehensive long-term regulatory framework.” He noted that this approach would be “constrained in duration and scope, yet sufficiently extensive to allow us to formulate more robust rules that fully leverage these emerging technologies.”
In a recent May statement, Atkins added: “I also believe we should evaluate what a future-proofed framework might entail, potentially through notice-and-comment rulemaking that clarifies the ‘exchange’ definition as it applies to onchain trading systems.”
CoinDesk consulted several lawyers with prior SEC experience regarding the decision to defer formal rulemaking and the durability of the interim measures. While most acknowledged that this approach may lack the strongest regulatory authority, they agreed it would still be challenging to reverse course if a future administration adopts differing perspectives.
