US Markets Race Toward Onchain Settlement After SEC No Action

Atkins pledged to encourage innovation as the industry moves toward onchain settlement, which would mean settling transactions on a blockchain ledger, removing intermediaries, enabling 24/7 trading and faster transaction finality.

Cointelegraph has contacted the SEC for comment on the details and timeline of an innovation exemption for tokenization.

Atkins first proposed an innovation exemption for tokenization during his remarks at the Crypto Task Force Roundtable on DeFi on June 9.

The SEC‘s no-action letter means that the agency won’t take enforcement action if the DTCCs product operates as described. The DTCC provides clearing, settlements and trading services as one of the most important infrastructure providers for US securities.

Asset tokenization involves minting tangible assets on the blockchain ledger, offering more investor access through fractionalized shares and 24/7 trading opportunities.

DTCC pilot and RWA builders push more TradFi onchain

Crypto analysts have praised the SEC‘s move to allow the DTCC’s new market tokenization service, which will award tokenized assets the same entitlements and investor protection mechanisms as traditional assets.

“Not sure people fully appreciate how quickly financial markets are heading towards full tokenization… Moving even faster than I expected,” wrote ETF analyst Nate Geraci, in a Friday X post.

Over the past few months, the SEC issued two no-action letters: one for a Solana-based decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) project, and a second no-action letter in September that allowed investment advisers to use state trust companies as crypto custodians.

Meanwhile, crypto projects continue to raise funds to build the infrastructure necessary for tokenized onchain markets.

On Tuesday, asset tokenization network Real Finance closed a $29 million private funding round to build an infrastructure layer for real-world assets (RWAs) that can boost institutional participation.