The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has opened a five-year path for tokenized American stocks to trade through special on-chain venues, and analysts at Goldman Sachs and Citizens say Coinbase, Robinhood and Circle are the companies best positioned to benefit.
By Jordan Lee | September 20, 2026
The Hook: A Regulated On-Ramp for On-Chain Stocks
On September 17, the SEC announced its Innovation Exemption, a temporary conditional relief that allows Tokenized Securities Venues — think of them as regulated stock exchanges that live on a blockchain — to use automated market makers for secondary trading of tokenized U.S. stocks. An automated market maker is like a vending machine for trading: instead of waiting for another person to take the other side of your trade, a pool of liquidity filled by many participants handles it automatically, around the clock.
The exemption runs for five years, giving the industry a long runway to prove that blockchain-based stock trading can coexist with traditional markets without causing problems. But the SEC attached serious strings, and understanding them matters for anyone holding crypto-exchange stocks or curious about where Wall Street and blockchain are heading.
On-Chain Evidence: What the Rules Actually Require
The framework is strict about what counts. Qualifying tokens must give holders the same rights as real shares — the same company interest, dividends, voting rights and liquidation rights as conventional stock of the same class. Synthetic products that only offer price exposure, like some derivative-style tokens sold overseas, do not qualify.
- Issuer notice — a venue listing a third party’s tokenized version of a company’s shares must tell that company first and wait at least 30 calendar days. If the company objects, trading cannot start.
- Symbol limits — Tier 1 venues (stocks in the S&P 500, Russell 1000 and heavily traded ETFs) are capped at 75 symbols; Tier 2 at 250 symbols.
- Volume caps — Tier 1 trading is limited to 0.25 percent of each stock’s prior-month average daily volume; Tier 2 to 2.5 percent.
- Enforcement teeth — repeatedly breaching a volume cap forces the venue and its affiliates to stop trading that token for three months.
- Open code, closed doors — smart contracts must be auditable and public and run on public, permissionless ledgers, while access to the venue itself must stay permissioned, and token trading must pause whenever the underlying stock is halted on its primary exchange.
The Core Conflict: Who Wins the On-Chain Stock Race
Analysts at Goldman Sachs and Citizens flagged three potential winners. Coinbase already operates tokenization, custody, stablecoin and blockchain infrastructure — and its international stock tokens are backed one-for-one by real shares in regulated, bankruptcy-remote custody. Its tokens, launched with Apple, Nvidia, Meta and Alphabet products using the company’s B20 standard on Base, currently live under Regulation S and are unavailable to U.S. persons, meaning compliance changes are still needed before American customers can touch them.
Robinhood’s overseas stock tokens, by contrast, offer economic exposure without the full shareholder rights the SEC now requires — a gap it would have to close. Circle could gain because the SEC explicitly permits payment stablecoins inside qualifying stock-token trading pairs, which would boost demand for USDC settlement. Coinbase President Emilie Choi said at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference that dividend rights are already built in and voting options are being added — describing it as a technology task, not a change to the security itself.
Market Implications: Why Regular Investors Should Care
If tokenized stocks take off under this framework, the boundary between your brokerage account and your crypto wallet starts to dissolve. Stocks could eventually trade on weekends, settle in minutes instead of two days, and move into decentralized finance applications the way some tokens already do. For investors in the exchanges themselves — Coinbase and Robinhood are both publicly traded — a new regulated product line could open fresh revenue streams in an increasingly crowded market.
The volume caps also send a signal: the SEC wants this to grow slowly. A venue that can only trade a quarter of one percent of a stock’s daily volume cannot destabilize traditional markets — which is exactly the point. This is a testing ground, not a replacement for the New York Stock Exchange.
The Verdict
The Innovation Exemption is one of the clearest signals yet that U.S. regulators want tokenized equities built inside the system rather than around it. For crypto investors, that legitimizes the technology. For stock investors, it hints at faster settlement and around-the-clock trading ahead. Watch whether Coinbase adapts its U.S. products to the same-rights standard — that will be the tell for how quickly this market actually opens.
The cryptocurrency market remains highly volatile. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
five year window for AMMs trading tokenized stocks and somehow circle still gets no credit here. issued usdc for years, will custody the shares too. obvious winner
agreed on Circle, but Robinhood already owns the retail pipeline. Goldman naming both tells you they genuinely dont know which channel wins yet
temporary conditional relief means the SEC can yank it whenever it wants. i will believe in the five year runway when year three actually shows up
every exemption since the 90s got made permanent once the money showed up. this one will too imo
five year runway with a 30 day issuer veto. apple alone can shelf tokenized aapl for half a decade and everyone will call the experiment a failure
the apple shelf scenario is exactly why 75 symbols for tier 1 makes sense. start with companies that say yes, let the holdouts watch from the sideline
september 17 will be a date people cite for years if this sticks. five years of regulatory runway is longer than most crypto companies survive
the 30 day issuer veto is the quiet killer here. any company that hates crypto can just say no and kill the listing. expect a lot of nos
the veto is the right call imo, forced listings would be a legal mess. voluntary ones still give coinbase a pipeline. agree most companies say no tho
the veto cuts both ways though. companies that say yes get a new investor base for free, the nos just hand the upside to competitors
AMMs trading stocks with dividends and voting rights attached is the genuinely new part. the synthetics crowd never had the real thing, this wrapper does
75 symbols for Tier 1 venues feels arbitrary but it is a start. Five years of runway with dividends and voting rights attached to the tokens is more than the synthetics crowd ever got.
75 symbols is plenty for a pilot. you really want 5000 tokenized tickers on day one with zero case law behind the wrapper?
coinbase and robinhood as the winners checks out. circle being in there is interesting though, they were supposed to be the stablecoin shop
circle custodying the shares backing the tokens is the answer. the stablecoin shop label always hid the actual plumbing business