SEC Postpones Its First Major Crypto Rule and Delays the Tokenization Exemption Again

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) called off the open meeting at which it was due to propose Reg Crypto, the first comprehensive digital-asset rulebook the agency has attempted, and did not set a replacement date.

Bundled into the same postponement is the innovation exemption for tokenization, the relief that would let firms issue and trade tokenized securities outside parts of the existing rule set while the agency writes permanent rules. The SEC was prepared to release at least part of it alongside the cancelled meeting. CoinDesk reports the delay follows objections from Wall Street firms and concerns inside the White House. Reporter Eleanor Terrett attributes the postponement to continuing negotiation over the tokenization section of the CLARITY Act, the market-structure bill that has not reached the Senate floor.

The sequencing problem is straightforward. If Congress writes tokenization rules into statute, an agency exemption issued first could conflict with the law or be rendered moot. If Congress does not act, firms wait. Either way, the practical rules for putting securities on public blockchains remain a matter of agency discretion and timing rather than legislation, which is exactly the condition the industry spent two years lobbying to end.

Incumbent brokers and exchanges have a straightforward interest in the delay. An exemption that lets tokenized equities trade on public chains with on-chain settlement would let newer venues compete with established market infrastructure under lighter obligations. Firms that already carry the full compliance load argue that is an uneven contest. Crypto-native issuers argue the current rules were not written for assets that settle on a public ledger and that indefinite delay is itself a decision.

Meanwhile the activity continues without the rulebook. Robinhood Chain, the layer-2 network behind the brokerage's tokenization push, holds 1.11 billion dollars in value secured and rose 15.1 percent over seven days, at a time when most tracked layer-2 networks declined.