SEC chairman says tokenization could help enable 24-hour U.S. stock trading

After the U.S. SEC approved a temporary conditional exemption, described as an innovation exemption, allowing limited trading of tokenized U.S. stocks in an on-chain environment, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said U.S. capital markets are moving toward broader 24-hour trading and tokenization could help make round-the-clock stock trading possible. Atkins added tokenization could enable "real-time inventory management" across the securities industry, improving trading efficiency, reducing settlement failures, and potentially mitigating risks tied to malicious naked short selling. Atkins said the ultimate goal is to eliminate those short-selling threats entirely and asked SEC staff to review measures needed to balance a market-growth-friendly environment with safeguards against harmful market behavior.