After the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) introduced a five-year, time-limited regulatory exemption for blockchain-based tokenized stock trading, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev (블라드 테네브) voiced optimism.

On Sept. 17 local time, blockchain outlet U.Today reported that the SEC decided to allow tokenized trading of U.S.-listed stocks on platforms that meet certain conditions through an “Innovation Exemption.” The exemption applies for five years on a time-limited basis.

In a social media post, Tenev said “the tokenization era opens in the United States,” expressing expectations about the step. He stressed that U.S. investors can benefit from on-chain infrastructure through tokenization, including 24-hour trading, instant settlement and basic fractional ownership. He also described it as a meaningful day for U.S. financial innovation.

This also aligns with Tenev’s long-held plan for capital-market tokenization. He has argued that a “global supercycle of tokenization” is inevitable and that distributed ledger technology can free investors from intermediaries and the limited trading hours of existing exchanges. The SEC move effectively creates an institutional channel to test in the United States a tokenized stock initiative that had been pursued mainly in overseas markets.

Qualified “Tokenized Securities Venues” (TSV) can tokenize existing National Market System (NMS) stocks and trade them in an on-chain environment. Automated market makers (AMM) and liquidity pools will be used for trading. The SEC plans to examine how secondary-market trading of tokenized stocks works in the real market through this framework.

Not all U.S. stocks will be freely tokenized immediately. The SEC set limits on the number of stocks and on trading volumes, and participants must meet eligibility requirements set by TSVs. If trading in the underlying stock is halted, trading in the corresponding tokenized stock must stop at the same time.

Some issuer authority is also protected. If a third party seeks to tokenize a stock without any relationship to the issuer, the TSV must give advance notice to the company. The issuer can raise an objection within 30 days of receiving the notice, and if it expresses opposition, tokenized trading of that company’s stock cannot begin on the TSV.

This is also linked to a debate earlier this month between Tenev and executives at some listed companies. Adam Aron (애덤 애런), CEO of AMC, previously took a critical stance on third-party platforms tokenizing his company’s stock without issuer consent. Tenev countered that executives of publicly traded companies should not unilaterally block development of new technological products based on those shares.

The SEC chose a kind of compromise between the two sides. Without blocking third-party tokenization itself, it granted issuers advance notice and an opportunity to reject it. For Robinhood, it is meaningful in that it secured an institutional foundation to push for expansion of the tokenized stock market in the United States.

The key issue going forward is which businesses will meet TSV requirements and enter the market. Another point to watch is whether the advantages of on-chain trading, such as 24-hour trading and fast settlement, will be realized, and how much issuers’ veto rights will affect expansion of tokenization targets.

Tokenization is coming to America. Thanks to the SEC’s leadership, Americans can start to reap the benefits of tokenization: instant settlement, 24/7 trading, fractionalization by default and more. It’s a good day for US innovation. https://t.co/477vMznpo4