Tokenization is moving faster than Washington

The SEC issued what it calls an “Innovation Exemption,” creating a temporary, conditional framework under which qualified venues, using automated market makers and liquidity pools, can trade certain tokenized stocks listed on American exchanges without registering with the SEC. The exemption lasts five years and permits experimentation with blockchain-based trading while imposing restrictions intended to protect investors.

That is a significant development. But its greater significance may be what it tells us about the pace of technological change.

The debate is no longer whether blockchain technology might someday reach traditional capital markets. The question is how existing markets will incorporate it and what rules will govern that transition.

Andrew Cuomo is the former Governor of New York, and a board member of OKX.