U.S. crypto regulators open tokenized stock, derivatives paths as House advances two digital asset bills

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US crypto regulators advance bills

Highlights

SEC issues a five-year Innovation Exemption permitting approved venues to trade tokenized stocks with volume and symbol limits, requiring blockchain transparency and parity with underlying securities.
CFTC grants no-action relief for providers linking users to regulated crypto derivatives interfaces if they comply with 10 conditions, expanding a March precedent without introducing broker registration.
House committees advance Bitcoin Reserve (H.R. 8957, 324,527 BTC valued at $24.8 billion) and Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act ($500 million projected revenue), signaling bipartisan momentum despite lacking final passage.

Regulatory actions reshape market access

As reported by Weiss Ratings, the SEC issues a five-year “Innovation Exemption” that allows approved Tokenized Securities Venues to trade tokenized versions of stocks listed on major U.S. exchanges, while the CFTC separately grants no-action relief for passive software providers linking users to regulated crypto derivatives.

The SEC framework sets limits on the number of tokenized stock symbols and trading volume, and requires tokenized shares to carry the same rights as the underlying securities, including voting and dividends. It also requires public, auditable smart contracts on public blockchains, issuer notification when a third party tokenizes a stock without direct issuer involvement, and trading halts when the underlying stock stops trading on its primary exchange.

The order also extends temporary relief from dealer registration requirements to liquidity providers in tokenized trading pools. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins says the measure brings U.S. capital markets into the digital age using the agency’s existing statutory authority rather than new legislation.

Hours later, the CFTC’s Market Participants Division issues a no-action position allowing qualifying crypto wallets and trading interfaces to connect users to CFTC-regulated derivatives, including perpetual contracts and prediction markets, without registering as introducing brokers. The relief applies if providers meet 10 conditions, including notice to the agency and submission to its jurisdiction, and expands a position first granted to Phantom in March.

The CFTC says the relief does not protect developers from criminal liability, drawing a distinction from cases such as Tornado Cash. Chairman Michael Selig says the agency continues to use existing statutory authority to address crypto market activity while maintaining that legislation still matters.

House bills add slower legislative progress

The House Financial Services Committee advances the Bitcoin Reserve bill, H.R. 8957, by a 28-21 vote, sending it to the full House floor. The bill directs the Treasury to centralize custody of Bitcoin and other digital assets seized through criminal and civil forfeiture and to hold federally forfeited Bitcoin in reserve for at least 20 years.

The proposal would apply to a U.S. government Bitcoin stockpile estimated at 324,527 BTC, valued in the source text at about $24.8 billion at current prices. Supporters including Rep. Bryan Steil argue the government should not leave seized Bitcoin in fragmented custody arrangements subject to case-by-case disposal.

The House Ways and Means Committee also approves the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act, H.R. 10357, in a 38-5 bipartisan vote, making it the first federal crypto tax framework to head to the full House. The bill covers transaction fees, stablecoins, mining, staking and lending, and includes a de minimis exemption that removes tax reporting for transactions where network or transaction fees total $10 or less.

It also applies existing wash-sale rules to digital assets, aligning crypto with the tax treatment of traditional securities. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the provisions together could raise about $500 million in federal revenue over a decade.

Neither House bill is law yet because each still requires a full House vote, Senate passage and a presidential signature. Even so, the combination of committee advances and active SEC and CFTC measures signals that crypto market structure in the U.S. is now moving ahead on both regulatory and legislative tracks, with asset managers, exchanges, wallets and tokenization infrastructure providers positioned to benefit first.

Our earlier coverage of the SEC’s five-year “Innovation Exemption” explained how certain regulated venues can begin offering tokenized versions of publicly traded U.S. stocks under strict investor-protection conditions. It highlighted requirements that token holders receive the same rights as shareholders—such as dividends and voting—and that issuers have a mechanism to object, underscoring how the SEC is using existing authority to define rules for tokenized securities while broader legislation remains uncertain.

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