The SEC Just Granted a Temporary Innovation Exemption For Tokenized Stock Trading. Here's What That Means For the Average Investor.

The SEC approved a five-year Innovation Exemption allowing blockchain-based platforms to trade tokenized versions of real U.S. stocks with 24/7 trading and near-instant settlement. Tokenized shares carry the same rights as regular shares (dividends, voting), but trading is capped at 0.25-2.5% of daily volume per stock. The experiment is small-scale and won't immediately impact traditional brokerage accounts, with first venues expected to launch in early 2027.