After the Senate vetoes the bill, the SEC opens a five-year pilot on the 77 trillion US stock chain

According to Woofun AI, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially launched a five-year pilot tokenized stock chain trading. This move directly responds to the regulatory vacuum after the US Senate recently vetoed the Clarity Act by 49 votes to 50. Legislative failure has led to a lack of a statutory framework for digital assets, forcing regulators to use existing legal powers to pave the way for the $77 trillion US stock market to access blockchain infrastructure.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins announced this core initiative on September 17, clearly linking it to the stalled legislative process, emphasizing that the agency is promoting tokenized stocks into the on-chain environment within its statutory authority. The exemption framework specifically targets 'tokenized securities trading platforms' and allows them to connect buyers and sellers through automated market makers and liquidity pools. Eligible platforms can be temporarily exempted from being recognized as exchanges within the meaning of the Securities and Exchange Law, while institutions that use their own funds to provide liquidity are exempt from the obligation to register as traders.

The arrangement aims to enable the massive US stock market to adopt a crypto-like trading model while buying time for the SEC to gather data to establish permanent rules.

In terms of regulatory details, SEC Commissioner Mark Ujeda stated that the framework is strictly binding. The platform must comply with stock codes and trading volume restrictions, and meet standards such as transaction transparency, transaction suspension mechanisms, record keeping, and technical security. Specific disclosure requirements include public prices, transaction size, time stamps, liquidity pool addresses, and daily transaction volume.

This policy release coincided with the SEC's roundtable meeting on promoting 24-hour trading in the US stock market, reflecting the trend of the market extending beyond traditional time periods. Atkins believes that tokenization helps with real-time inventory management and reduces transaction settlement failures; Uyeda emphasizes that it can reduce reliance on intermediaries, simplify processes and reduce costs, and ensure that securities protection measures apply to the on-chain market.

The market reacted quickly, and Robinhood (HOOD.US) Crypto general manager John Kelblat said that the exemption indicates that tokenization technology is ready to enter the US market, and proper regulation will accelerate innovation. Currently, companies such as Robinhood (HOOD.US), Kraken, and Coinbase (COIN.US) are providing tokenized US stock products overseas.

According to data compiled by Woofun AI, the tokenized stock market value according to Token Terminal has reached a new high of 3.2 billion US dollars, an increase of 1219.3% over the previous year. Decentralized exchange transactions reached $15.75 billion in the past 30 days, with weekend trading volume of $2.95 billion, which increased 4.4 times from $360 million to $1.6 billion in just three weeks. The number of holders reached 3.7 million, an increase of 4247.8% year over year, although this reflects the number of on-chain addresses rather than the number of independent investors.

The direction of capital flows shows that the value of tokenized shares in the DeFi sector grew by 1960.8% over the past year to reach $247.8 million. However, Grayscale estimates that as of the end of August, only about 5% of tokenized stock assets were used for on-chain finance, indicating that investors value continuous trading opportunities more. Grayscale believes that clear regulatory standards will facilitate the integration of tokenized securities with the lending market, making them programmable collateral. Initial signs suggest that the size of tokenized stocks in Solana-based lending agreements such as Kamino and Jupiter has increased about tenfold over the past year. Grayscale points out that future regulatory changes may enable simultaneous on-chain settlement at the securities level and payment level, reducing counterparty risk.

This exemption only applies to national market system stocks representing the nature of real securities. Tokens must give holders the right to receive dividends and vote, and synthetic financial instruments are not covered. This difference is critical because products launched by Robinhood (HOOD.US) in Europe are described as derivatives rather than ownership. The issuer has control and can object to third parties tokenizing its securities. The trading platform must be a US entity, comply with US Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions requirements, and restrict participants through licensing mechanisms. Overnight and weekend trading faces restrictions on the number and size of stocks, and low liquidity may lead to widening spreads and increasing price fluctuations. Atkins admits that the all-weather market needs to maintain traditional daily functions and protective measures, and that market activity needs to be further increased before services such as securities lending operate effectively at night. The five-year pilot provided a controlled environment to test these issues, providing a path for crypto companies to introduce overseas operations into the US regulatory system.