The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a conditional exemption on Thursday (September 17) that allows tokenized versions of US-listed stocks to trade on blockchain-based venues without those venues registering as national securities exchanges. The measure, dubbed the “Innovation Exemption,” runs for up to five years, the agency framing it as a temporary bridge to permanent rulemaking rather than a final rule.
What the Clarity Act would have done
The move swiftly followed the collapse of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act in the Senate. A cloture vote on the bill fell short on September 15, with senators voting 49 to 50, 11 votes shy of the 60 needed to advance.
The Clarity Act would have assigned crypto regulatory authority across agencies, including new powers for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over crypto spot markets. As it currently stands, the CFTC’s reach is limited to anti-fraud and anti-manipulation enforcement on derivatives; the agency has no authority to register or oversee crypto spot trading.
The bill would have given the CFTC exclusive federal jurisdiction over spot-market trading in tokens that qualify as digital commodities, and created three new registration categories: digital commodity exchanges digital commodity dealers digital commodity brokers
Those registrants would have had to meet Commodity Exchange Act-style principles of trade surveillance, minimum capital, public trade reporting, conflict-of-interest controls and cybersecurity standards, as well as segregate customer funds.
Most importantly, digital commodities would have been subject to a mature blockchain test: if a token’s value comes substantially from network use rather than a promoter’s efforts, no single party controls the system or holds special insider privileges, and insiders collectively hold below roughly 20 percent of the supply, a token would fall to CFTC oversight rather than SEC securities oversight.
Tokens that don’t clear that bar would stay under SEC jurisdiction as securities. The bill also would have added a new SEC capital-raising exemption tailored to digital-commodity issuers, with its own disclosure regime.
What the innovation exemption requires
The SEC’s Innovation Exemption, issued two days after the vote, sets its own conditions for tokenized stocks that remain SEC-regulated securities.
Under the exemption, qualifying Tokenized Securities Venues (TSVs) can trade tokens representing real ownership of US-listed stocks without registering as traditional exchanges. Their liquidity providers are also exempt from certain dealer-registration rules.
To qualify, tokens must carry the same economic and governance rights as the shares they represent, including dividends and voting.
Robinhood’s Stock Tokens, Kraken’s xStocks and Ondo Global Markets’ offshore notes all give holders price exposure without shareholder status, so none would qualify as currently structured.
Without that exemption, a platform wanting to run this kind of venue must register as a national securities exchange, or as a broker-dealer operating an alternative trading system, which itself requires broker-dealer registration, FINRA membership and ATS-specific disclosure and fair-access rules.Liquidity providers - protocols like Uniswap, Aerodrome and Raydium that use pooled funds to algorithmically quote both a buy and sell price at all times - trigger broker-dealer registration under Exchange Act Section 15(a) through that same two-sided quoting, which imposes net capital, recordkeeping, FINRA membership and best-execution requirements designed for discretionary traders rather than automated smart contracts or passive DeFi pools.
Industry reaction
The exemption drew swift reaction from across the industry, with reception split between welcome for the regulatory clarity and skepticism about how much it actually changes for investors.Ryan VanGrack, Coinbase’s vice chairman and a former SEC adviser, welcomed the decision. “Tokenization is the biggest upgrade to financial infrastructure since Wall Street ditched paper for electronic trading,” VanGrack tweeted, adding, “It’s no longer a question of whether tokenization will reshape finance - it’s a question of where.” Chris Hayes, executive director of the Coalition for Tokenized Markets, said the issuer-objection requirement helps “curb synthetic tokenization” and gives investors clarity on what they’re actually buying. Additionally, some observers noted the exemption could put blockchain-based trading venues in more direct competition with traditional exchanges, which remain subject to the fuller exchange-registration regime. “The exemption could allow multiple tokenized versions of US - listed securities to trade in parallel, lightly regulated markets, in ways that could lead to investor confusion and harm, as well as price and liquidity fragmentation,” said Kenneth E. Bentsen Jr., president and CEO of SIFMA, the securities-industry trade group representing exchanges and broker-dealers. In a statement, Bentsen added that “any innovation exemption should be narrowly drawn, open to all market participants, technology neutral and subject to appropriate guardrails”. Beyond questions of market structure, others zeroed in on what actually qualifies as a real tokenized stock in the first place. In an email, Bitget Wallet COO Alvin Kan noted the crucial distinction between stock ownership and a token that tracks a stock price. “Putting both on a blockchain doesn’t erase that difference,” he said.In Kan’s view, investor rights, not 24/7 trading or faster settlement, may become the real dividing line in the tokenized-stock market. “Under the SEC exemption, a tokenized National Market System stock must give holders the same rights and privileges as the equivalent traditional share. Synthetic exposure is explicitly outside the scope of the exemption, and issuers can object when an unaffiliated third party tokenizes their stock.“That is materially different from many crypto-native tokenized equity products globally, where the token may instead represent price exposure or a contractual claim against an intermediary. For users, the potential improvement is meaningful: self-custody, fractional ownership, around-the-clock trading and near-instantaneous settlement. The SEC itself identifies these as potential benefits.“But tokenization does not automatically create a better product. If access remains heavily permissioned, liquidity is shallow and users still face multiple intermediaries, blockchain may mainly modernize the back end without materially changing the front-end experience. The real test is whether tokenization reduces settlement, reconciliation and distribution friction, not simply whether the stock has been put onchain.”Kan also drew a line between statutory and agency-level reform. “The Senate failed to advance Clarity in the September 15 procedural vote, while two days later the SEC used its existing Exchange Act authority to create a narrower pathway for tokenized securities. That means the SEC does not need Congress to resolve every crypto classification issue before experimenting with areas already clearly inside its securities jurisdiction.“For institutions, however, this is operational clarity rather than permanent legal certainty. The exemption expires five years after publication, remains subject to symbol and volume limits and modification, and is explicitly intended to inform future rulemaking. That is enough clarity to justify pilots, integrations and modular infrastructure today, but long-duration capital will still distinguish between a five-year exemptive order and a framework embedded in final rules or legislation,” Kan said.
The bottom line
Whatever happens with the Innovation Exemption over the next five years, tokenized US stocks are arriving on more than one track at once. The NYSE, which already meets every registration requirement the exemption exists to bypass, has been building its own tokenization capability since April, when the SEC approved a routine rule change letting it trade tokenized shares directly on its existing exchange.
That timeline complicates any narrative that pits crypto-native platforms against Wall Street incumbents. What remains unresolved is which path wins. The exemption gives blockchain venues and their AMM liquidity providers a five-year runway to prove the model works without full exchange or dealer registration, but it’s explicitly a bridge, not a destination. Meanwhile, Congress’s own attempt to settle these questions legislatively remains stalled, with the Clarity Act’s fate no clearer now than it was before the cloture vote failed.
For now, tokenization of US equities is moving forward on regulatory improvisation rather than a single settled framework, a gap that issuers, venues and investors will be watching the SEC’s forthcoming rulemaking to close.
Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Bitwise Asset Management Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan outlined what he believes will power a new bull cycle in crypto, one he said has the potential to be more durable than the boom-and-bust runs that preceded it.Bitwise, founded in 2017, is one of the larger crypto-focused asset managers and builds its business around exchange-traded funds and research aimed at financial advisors.Speaking on a September 9 webinar hosted by financial advisor Ric Edelman, founder of the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals (DACFP), Hougan argued that, unlike past cycles driven by a single catalyst, this one is being driven by five forces compounding at once - regulatory tailwinds, institutional adoption, stablecoins and tokenization, on-chain finance and revenue-generating tokens - each reinforcing the others rather than standing alone.
Regulation: From headwind to tailwind
On regulation, Hougan said the SEC under current Chair Paul Atkins has dropped the enforcement actions the agency brought against major exchanges during Gary Gensler’s tenure and ended what he described as “debanking” pressure on crypto firms.Under Gensler, the agency sued nearly every major exchange and treated most crypto assets other than Bitcoin as unregistered securities, pushing firms to debank and entrepreneurs offshore. Atkins’ SEC has dismissed those suits, as well as litigation against Coinbase and Kraken, and his Project Crypto initiative has continued loosening rules around token trading. For institutions, Hougan argued that regulatory clarity lets firms like BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), Nasdaq, NYSE and DTCC operate in the space, building businesses in crypto markets rather than just allocating to them. “When that happens, what gets built stops being crypto-specific,” he said. Hougan pegged the crypto market at roughly US$2 trillion against a global stock market worth over US$150 trillion. “Bringing even a fraction of that onto blockchain rails multiplies the market that platforms like Uniswap or Aave can serve many times over.”Edelman raised the SEC’s floated plan to let blockchains serve as the official record-keeper for securities, and the London Stock Exchange’s stated intent to move its top 100 stocks on-chain for 24/7 trading as evidence that this shift is not just theoretical. Further reinforcing the narrative, wealth managers’ capital market assumptions have moved from debating whether to hold any crypto at all to allocations that, according to Hougan, roughly double what many portfolios held a few years ago even at the lowest end. He pointed to the billions that have poured into Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs over the past month alone, with hundreds of millions more into funds tied to XRP, Solana, Hyperliquid and Chainlink. Bitwise’s own Bitcoin ETF, (NYSEARCA:BITB), charges a mere 0.20 percent expense ratio. Institutions favor ETFs specifically, Hougan argued, because crypto custody differs enough from equity custody that most aren't equipped to manage it directly. “That's why you see folks like the Harvard Endowment using an ETF to gain exposure to Bitcoin or the Abu Dhabi Sovereign Wealth Fund using a Bitcoin ETF to gain exposure to crypto.”A retail investor being able to own the same fund Harvard does adds a level of access, Hougan said doesn’t exist in comparable institutional markets like venture capital.
Money and markets move on-chain
Stablecoins and tokenization are an entirely different mechanism from how money and securities currently move.In Hougan's telling, both will help drive the next phase of crypto forward. “I think that what the world has woken up to is the fact that blockchains are the best tool for moving financial assets that's ever been created.” Hougan cited stablecoin transfers settling in seconds for a fraction of a cent on Ethereum. Every major financial firm, from Stripe and Visa (NYSE:V) to the largest banks, is now positioning to build in the stablecoin market, which Citibank has forecast will reach US$4 trillion within four years, according to Hougan. Meanwhile, tokenized stocks, which also settle almost instantly, have been growing 600 to 700 percent annually, and the SEC’s chair has said all stocks could be on-chain within a couple of years. Recent trading activity also suggests that demand for market access outside regular trading hours is growing: an analysis by The Defiant, using public on-chain data, reveals that trading over the 42 largest tokenized equities traded US$1.01 billion over Labor Day weekend, roughly matching Friday’s US$1.02 billion session while markets were open, with US$398.3 million more added on Labor Day for a US$1.41 billion three-day total during an 89.5-hour NYSE closure.By platform, Robinhood Chain took 57 percent of the weekend total at US$572.8 million, ahead of Binance’s bStocks (US$303.5 million), Backed Finance’s xStocks (US$87.1 million and Ondo Global Markets US$43.8 million.
Important caveat: Ownership vs. exposure
The tokenized-equity trend also comes with a caveat investors should understand, and a public dispute between AMC and Robinhood shows exactly what’s at stake for investors.Last week, AMC CEO Adam Aron demanded Robinhood halt its tokenized AMC products, which are structured as debt securities issued by a Robinhood subsidiary that track AMC’s stock price but confer no ownership stake or shareholder rights in AMC itself. Aron’s objection is similar to one OpenAI raised in 2025 over Robinhood’s tokenized OpenAI shares, a dispute EU regulators looked into but never publicly resolved. Robinhood’s general counsel rejected the call to desist and told Aron to “send (his) lawyers”. The situation is unfolding, and regulators have not issued a public comment on the matter as of press time. The SEC’s own staff guidance, issued in January 2026, specifically addresses this kind of product, saying tokens that track a security’s value without conferring ownership could qualify as “security-based swaps,” triggering added regulatory requirements.On September 15, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said on X that "in-kind redemption and voting are coming for Robinhood Stock Tokens," with the company's head of crypto adding that 1:1 redemption is in active development and voting rights are on the roadmap. Neither feature has a launch date or defined eligibility criteria, and Robinhood hasn't said whether AMC token holders specifically will be included.The takeaway here is that many tokenized-equity products offer price exposure, not the legal ownership that comes with holding the underlying stock, an important nuance that investors must understand.
On-chain finance takes shape
Tokenized stocks, bonds and dollars will also trade against each other directly on protocols like Uniswap rather than through traditional foreign-exchange desks or clearinghouses, a wrinkle Hougan said is why investors are buying into the protocols powering that infrastructure, not just the tokens themselves.While stock exchanges may be “at risk,” Hougan said they’re not doomed, noting exchanges could be preserved by regulatory requirements or simply adapt. “I think the traditional role of exchanges and broker-dealers will morph dramatically over the next handful of years. So I don't think it will look quite like what it looks today.“For what it's worth, that's actually already happened. Nasdaq is a data company masquerading as an exchange, and it’s morphed its business over time, and I think you’ll see it do it again.“Certainly NASDAQ and NYSE and CBOE and others see it coming; some of them will succeed in making the transition, and probably some of them won’t. I think that’s just what happens in these disruptive environments.”That same pattern, Hougan said, extends well beyond exchanges to all of finance. “We think finance will just be on-chain finance. We don’t think we’ll even call it crypto; we just think all finance will move into these on-chain environments.”Hyperliquid and Uniswap are already trading entirely on-chain rather than through a centralized institution. Both also earn real revenue from it: trading fees from users swapping tokens, a share of which they now route into buying back their own tokens on the open market, the same logic as a corporate stock buyback: fewer tokens in circulation means each one left represents a larger claim on the protocol’s revenue.Under past SEC regulations, tokens that generated revenue and bought back tokens risked being treated as unregistered securities offerings, forcing protocols to rely on governance tokens instead. This next stage, said Hougan, will create new opportunities as market participants update their views on token utilityIt’s important to note that these buyback structures are a workaround and lack official regulatory clearance. The CLARITY Act, which failed a Senate cloture vote on September 15, would give mature tokens firmer footing as commodities rather than securities, but Hougan argued that passage is not a prerequisite for regulatory clarity to continue, as the SEC has signaled it would deliver equivalent protections through rulemaking regardless of whether Congress acted.
Two bets on where this goes
For Hougan, none of these forces stands alone. Regulatory clarity is the thread running through all of them, giving institutions room to build, protocols room to pay their own token holders, and Wall Street room to move markets on-chain. That compounding effect, more than any single catalyst, is what he argues sets this cycle apart from the ones before it.Both he and Edelman are betting on it: Hougan’s US$1.3 million Bitcoin forecast for 2035, and Edelman’s US$500,000 for 2030, remain unchanged. For now, neither is backing down.
Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.
Read more about test trades led by two of the world's leading asset managers that demonstrated the benefits of tokenization, collateral mobility and operational feasibility.
Tokenization is shifting from hype to infrastructure, but adoption is limited because platforms can't communicate seamlessly across jurisdictions, exchanges and compliance frameworks. Without shared standards, tokenized real-world assets become isolated inside proprietary systems, restricting secondary market liquidity and institutional confidence.Chris Turner, co-founder of KULA, argues that overcoming this fragmentation requires legally enforceable, interoperable standards that travel directly with the asset.To address this issue, KULA has introduced six modular Ethereum Request for Comments (ERC) standards, released as open-source public goods under Creative Commons Zero. They cover crucial layers such as asset-to-token binding, documentation flow, valuation tracking, impact metrics, compliance review and travel rule enforcement.By breaking these requirements into modular components, institutions can adopt only what they need while preserving legal clarity across secondary markets. Building on Ethereum, where most real-world asset volume currently resides, these open standards aim to create a unified framework.Rather than rebuilding legal and compliance structures for every transaction, open interoperability enables tokenized assets to move fluidly and securely across global markets.Ultimately, establishing these standards is the essential bridge that will transform fragmented tokenization efforts into a cohesive, scalable global financial ecosystem.Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.
The SEC’s delayed innovation exemption has created a fresh round of questions for firms building in tokenized securities, digital assets and on-chain market infrastructure. What was supposed to be a key next step for trading, custody and broader market access is now on pause, and that pause may say as much about congressional timing as it does about SEC policy.The proposed innovation exemption was designed to give firms a conditional path to issue, custody, and trade tokenized assets without having to fit neatly into the existing Securities Act or Exchange Act framework.In this conversation, Ryan Louvar, WisdomTree’s CLO and head of business and legal affairs and digital assets, explains why the delay matters, where the SEC can move on its own and where Congress still needs to step in.
Louvar’s key point is that this was never just about one product. It was about creating a broader on-chain trading environment for products on chain and the infrastructure around those productsThat distinction matters. Some companies, including WisdomTree, are already operating tokenized funds within the current rule set. The innovation exemption, by contrast, was meant to open up a more complete on-chain experience where tokenized securities could be traded more broadly and with less friction. In Louvar’s view, the exemption was intended to focus on a time-limited and scope-limited framework for tokenized security trading, not a permanent rewrite of securities law.The SEC’s delayed innovation exemption shows that tokenized securities are moving forward, but the biggest breakthroughs will come from durable rules on custody, market structure and congressional clarity.Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Read a Q&A on a pivotal new partnership between Nasdaq Calypso and the National Bank of Georgia that will help some of the country's largest commercial banks modernize their capital markets operations and treasury.
As the US midterm elections approach, the digital assets industry finds itself at a critical regulatory inflection point. Gone are the days of speculative wild-west debates; today, blockchain technology, stablecoins and tokenization are rapidly integrating into the core plumbing of global financial systems. Despite notable progress, regulatory uncertainty persists. To understand the stakes and specific legislative needs, the Investing News Network gathered commentary from several prominent founders, investors and industry leaders, who shared their perspectives on what the next Congress must prioritize.
The investor’s perspective: Seeking long-term predictability
For venture capitalists and asset managers, regulatory flip-flops across different administrations create an inhospitable environment for long-term planning.
Utkarsh Ahuja, founder and managing partner at Moon Pursuit Capital, highlights that the debate in Washington has matured, but durability remains the missing ingredient.
“I think we’re past the point where the industry is simply asking Washington to give it rules. There has been real progress, particularly around stablecoins, and the broader conversation in Washington is much more sophisticated than it was a few years ago,” he wrote in comments sent to INN.
“What matters now is making that progress durable. The Clarity Act and the broader push around market structure are important steps in that direction. We need to resolve some of the fundamental questions that have been hanging over the industry for years, particularly around asset classification, the respective roles of the SEC and CFTC, and what regulatory requirements apply as projects and markets mature.
“Founders are building companies on five- and ten-year timelines, and investors are deploying capital on similar horizons. From an investor’s perspective, it is very difficult to make those decisions confidently if fundamental questions around market structure, asset classification or jurisdiction can shift significantly from one administration to the next. Regulatory uncertainty ultimately gets factored into where capital gets deployed.
“I’d like to see the next Congress finish that work and give the market clearer boundaries. That doesn’t mean weakening consumer protection or giving crypto a special set of rules. It means creating a framework where serious companies understand what is expected of them and can build, raise capital and scale accordingly.
“For the US, there’s also a much bigger competitiveness question here. Digital assets are increasingly becoming part of the broader financial infrastructure through stablecoins, tokenization, payments and programmable finance. Capital and talent can move very quickly in this industry, and so can the companies being built around these technologies. The US doesn’t need to be the easiest jurisdiction for crypto, but it should aim to be the most credible and predictable. If Congress gets that balance right and provides durable market structure, I think we’ll see more institutional capital enter the space and a lot of the next generation of digital asset companies choose to build here.”
Infrastructure and access: lowering the barrier for innovators
While macro-level predictability is essential, early-stage startups face immediate operational hurdles. Without clear rules on custody and direct access to payment rails, young fintechs are forced to spend unsustainable portions of their early capital on compliance and legal overhead.
Ryan Kirkley, co-founder and CEO of Global Settlement Network, outlined three highly specific demands that Congress must address to allow builders the space to innovate.
“My ask for the next Congress is specific. First, pass market structure legislation: clear jurisdictional lines between the SEC and CFTC, and durable rules for issuance, custody and settlement of tokenised assets. Ambiguity is a tax on every founder building here.
“Second, create federal regulatory sandboxes so startups can test new settlement infrastructure and tokenised products under supervision — without needing a megabank’s compliance budget on day one.
“Third, keep stablecoin rules workable for new entrants, not just incumbents, and modernise charters and payment-rail access so fintechs can plug into core financial infrastructure directly. Financial infrastructure is being rebuilt globally. The US has the capital, talent and institutions to lead and Congress just has to give builders certainty and room to build."
Technical realities: Commodities, micro-payments, and non-custodial licensing
When crafting legislation, Congress must avoid broad strokes that accidentally crush highly technical and beneficial use cases. In fields like decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) and energy web applications, treating digital receipts or micro-payments as securities or taxable events under legacy frameworks is practically and economically impossible.Parth Kapadia, CEO of OpenVPP, discussed the granular, technical fixes required to prevent compliance costs from eclipsing the value of the technology itself.“First, finish market structure. The Clarity Act has a cloture vote scheduled for September 15, and the House passed its version over a year ago. What we need out of the final text is confirmation that tokenized attributes tied to measured physical performance, things like renewable energy certificates and flexibility credits, sit on the commodity side of the line. These are receipts for verified megawatt-hours. Treating them as securities would put more compliance cost on a settlement than the settlement is worth.“Second, fix the tax treatment of machine-scale payments. Every de minimis proposal currently moving, including Lummis’s US$300 threshold, carves out property held for income production. A homeowner’s enrolled battery is exactly that. So the one household actually earning crypto-denominated income from physical infrastructure is the one household the exemption does not reach. We need an aggregation rule that treats a year of micro-settlements as a single basis event.“Third, give non-custodial settlement platforms a federal path. Orchestrating a payment we never hold should not require money transmitter licenses in fifty states. The Genius Act was the hard part, and it is done. The next Congress should build on it rather than reopen it.”
During an August interview with INN, Raj Kamal, co-founder of Transfi, said the payments landscape remains highly fragmented, with emerging markets across Asia and Africa facing higher transaction costs and less predictable settlement times than more integrated regions such as Europe. Listen to the full interview above.
Navigating the political calendar: Midterm risks and capital on the sidelines
As the legislative clock ticks, the threat of electoral gridlock looms large. The impending midterms mean that major legislation like the Clarity Act is running out of floor time, creating a holding pattern where massive amounts of institutional capital remain frozen.Bernardo Brites, co-founder and CEO of Trace Finance, detailed how regulatory delays keep vital capital out of the US economy. “With midterms coming up, it’s important to note that not every corner of crypto carries the same political risk. Bitcoin’s thesis holds regardless of who’s in Washington; scarcity doesn’t care which party controls Congress. But market structure, stablecoin oversight and the rules governing how issuers and platforms actually operate are a different story entirely, and that’s the part that’s on the line right now.“At this point, most people tracking the Clarity Act aren’t betting on passage this year; they’re bracing for it to slip. The bill has a procedural vote coming up that’s basically its last realistic shot before the floor time gets consumed by midterm politics, and the honest read is that the odds aren’t good. That’s not a reason to stop pushing, but to recalibrate the strategy.“What founders want from the next Congress is a market structure framework that connects to what GENIUS already did for stablecoins, as well as access to FedNow and FedWire for compliant payment providers. There is a tremendous amount of capital on the sidelines waiting for regulatory clarity to enter the markets. Every month this stays unresolved is another month that capital sits on the sidelines waiting for a rulebook that was supposedly close to done. The US can only truly cement itself as a leader in digital assets when we have bipartisan support for a clear regulatory framework.”
Global flight and the institutional reality
The reality of the modern digital landscape is that capital and talent are highly mobile. While Congress delays, other major economies are stepping in. Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation is already live, while financial hubs like Singapore and Dubai are offering clear, predictable legal environments. Meanwhile, the actual underlying growth of blockchain is being driven by the largest financial institutions.Alex Witt, a founding general partner at Verda Ventures, cautions that a failure to act quickly could relegate the US to a bystander, holding the plumbing while other nations build the actual products.“The one thing I’d ask of the next Congress is to finish the Clarity Act - it’s cleared the House with (over 70) Democrats and cleared Senate Banking, and every month it sits on the Senate calendar is another month capital and talent drift to Dubai, Singapore and Europe. The bigger point is that the debate has moved on: stablecoin volume overtook (Automated Clearing House) this year, DTCC is launching tokenized settlement in October with NYSE Composite (INDEXNYSEGIS:NYA), BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) in the pilot, and 21 banks just announced their own stablecoin, so Congress is still legislating “crypto” while the growth is now in the banks and payment networks adopting blockchain rails. That means settling the SEC/CFTC line once and for all, writing rules for tokenized securities and 24/7 settlement, and resisting the temptation to make those rules something only a licensed bank can satisfy — otherwise the US ends up with the plumbing and none of the products. Founders aren’t asking for a pro-crypto Congress; they’re asking for a boring, predictable one.”
Conclusion: The mandate for the next congress
The consensus among digital asset leaders is clear: the industry is not looking for a “crypto-friendly” Congress that offers special regulatory exemptions or shortcuts. Instead, the mandate is for a professional, “boring” Congress that can resolve jurisdiction, streamline tax treatments for modern technologies, and establish a level playing field.The upcoming midterms will determine who sits in the legislative seats, but they should not alter the strategic focus. The groundwork has been laid with bills like the Genius Act and the Clarity Act. The next Congress must carry this legislation across the finish line.
Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) formal crypto rule proposal marks a major pivot from an enforcement-first approach toward a structured compliance model, filling a regulatory vacuum as congressional action on the CLARITY Act stalls. The framework offers projects a path to raise capital under defined disclosure requirements before transitioning to a decentralized status once central management is no longer driving value.While questions around custody and open-ledger mechanics remain unresolved, the proposal gives startups a route to fundraise and build without facing immediate, costly SEC enforcement battles.According to Ashley Ebersole, co-founder and chief legal officer at real-world asset tokenization platform tx, the SEC likely waited because Congress was expected to act first through the CLARITY Act. But as the year moved on, the odds of legislation passing quickly dropped.That matters because legislation is more durable than regulation. A law passed by Congress can only be undone through another act of Congress and a presidential signature. A rule written by an agency is easier to reverse under a future administration.For now, the big question is whether Congress acts in time, or whether the SEC’s rules become the main roadmap for the next phase of crypto regulation.Listen to the full interview to hear more from Ebersole on the SEC and CLARITY Act.Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.
The centralized exchange (CEX) model is under pressure. A string of CEX shutdowns in July has revived a question the industry keeps circling back to: Can CEXs hold their ground as traders and regulators alike push for more transparency, tighter oversight and on-chain operation?For Curve founder Michael Egorov, what's happening isn't a temporary shakeout — it's a sign that the market's underlying infrastructure is maturing.Some CEXs will adapt, reinventing themselves as hybrid or fully on-chain platforms. Others won't survive the shift at all.Egorov noted that exchange closures stem from fundamental structural flaws rather than market downturns or changing user habits alone. CEXs were created for a less regulated, Wild West era reliant on opacity and heavy custody of user funds. As crypto integrates with mainstream finance, this model is facing unsustainable pressure.In contrast, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) offer non-custodial operations and full on-chain transparency, establishing a superior trust model. Consequently, CEX business models lacking transparency must restructure, evolve or shut down to align with the industry's direction.Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.
The centralized exchange model is under pressure. A string of CEX shutdowns in July has revived a question the industry keeps circling back to: can centralized exchanges still hold their ground as traders and regulators alike push for more transparency, tighter oversight and on-chain operation?For Curve founder Michael Egorov, the answer isn't a temporary shakeout — it's a sign the market's underlying infrastructure is maturing.Some CEXs will adapt, reinventing themselves as hybrid or fully on-chain platforms. Others won't survive the shift at all.
Egorov notes that exchange closures stem from fundamental structural flaws rather than market downturns or changing user habits alone. CEXs were created for a less regulated, Wild West era reliant on opacity and heavy custody of user funds. As crypto integrates with mainstream finance, this model faces unsustainable pressure.In contrast, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) offer non-custodial operations and full on-chain transparency, establishing a superior trust model. Consequently, CEX business models lacking transparency must restructure, evolve or shut down to align with the industry's direction.Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Navigating the complex landscape of global payments demands a deep understanding of fragmented regulatory frameworks and infrastructure. Raj Kamal, co-founder of Transfi, emphasized that while regions like Europe benefit from unified systems, emerging markets in Asia and Africa face high transaction costs and unpredictable delays.To succeed, companies must meticulously build systems that integrate diverse payment methods, while viewing regulation as a foundation for sustainable innovation rather than an obstacle.Scalability hinges on adopting universal standards that facilitate seamless cross-border movement of money. Kamal noted that emerging technologies like stablecoins and blockchain are already simplifying these processes by offering transparency and stability.Looking ahead, the rise of agentic commerce will require even more robust infrastructure and evolved regulatory protocols to handle liability and dispute resolution.Ultimately, the transition from blockchain to artificial intelligence-driven finance teaches that superior technology wins when paired with regulation by design.By embracing complexity, leveraging global legislative shifts like the CLARITY Act in the US and focusing on seamless user experiences, the next generation of payment platforms can make international transactions faster, cheaper and more reliable.Listen to the full interview above to hear more from Kamal on the lessons learned during the buildout of Transfi and where he thinks the market is heading.Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.
NextEra’s Dominion Deal Could Put It at the Center of the AI Power RaceDuke Energy (NYSE:DUK) reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.43 per share, up from $1.25 per share a year earlier, as customer growth and infrastructure investment at its electric utilities supp
Tokenization has transitioned from experimentation to mainstream financial innovation. As institutions explore digital assets, the focus has shifted from whether tokenization makes sense to determining which assets offer the most economic value at scale. According to Jordi Esturi, chief marketing officer at Brickken, client interest has more than doubled recently, driven by regulatory clarity like Europe's MiCA, maturing infrastructure and major product launches from players like BlackRock (NYSE:BLK).As Esturi explained, building an institutional-grade infrastructure requires three core pillars. First, legal enforceability is mandatory; tokens must represent valid ownership rights that are enforceable across jurisdictions. Second, interoperability is essential as institutional markets rely on interconnected systems to ensure liquidity. Third, compatibility with legacy systems is vital. Since many financial institutions use decades-old technology, new solutions must integrate without requiring total overhauls.Despite barriers, the trajectory is clear. As legal frameworks harmonize and protocols standardize, the collaboration between traditional finance and blockchain technology will unlock unprecedented liquidity and efficiency, paving the way for a truly global digital asset marketplace.Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.
The CLARITY Act is set to determine the way digital assets are handled in the US. Currently under discussion in Congress, it is often described as a crypto bill, but its scope extends far beyond that realm. At its core, the CLARITY Act is a comprehensive financial services law aiming to clarify the regulatory environment for digital assets and related financial activities.Kevin Tran, a partner at Nelson Mullins specializing in banking and fintech law, explained that while the act addresses cryptocurrencies, it also tackles fundamental questions about financial intermediation, banking regulation and how digital assets are treated under the law as more of these tools become integrated into the traditional banking system.One of the most discussed provisions of the CLARITY Act is Section 404, which addresses digital asset rewards. The draft allows for a wide array of activities, as long as they are not explicitly classified or calculated as interest payments.As Tran emphasized, one of the industry’s biggest challenges lies in navigating ambiguity. For investors, staying informed and adaptable is the best strategy in this fast-changing space.Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.
Iman Rachman, President Director of Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), recently answered a couple questions from us on IDX’s goals and the strategy behind its technology relationship.