U.S. SEC begins prepping for around-the-clock trading that crypto treats as the norm

"We're moving of course to a new day — and night," Paul Atkins told the crowd of securities lawyers, saying that tradeable events aren't constrained to market hours and expanding will mean "investors will be able to react more quickly to events."

Amid the discussion on expanding hours for traditional firms, the SEC chairman also raised the agency's new move on tokenization. The regulator ordered a new type of exemption be available to firms wanting to open tokenized securities trading, granting a five-year period in which the firms won't have to worry about the overhang of heavy securities regulation.