SEC officials expect the first tokenised stock venues to file in the fourth quarter and say issuers get 30 days to object
Updated: Oct 7
An SEC lawyer has put a rough date on when tokenised share trading starts in the United States, and a commissioner has set out the one control companies have over it. Neither reaches a company listed in London, and that gap is the point for anyone here watching how tokenised equity gets governed.
Taylor Lindman, chief counsel to the Securities and Exchange Commission's Crypto Task Force, said the first firms should file the notices required to operate a tokenised securities venue "at some point in the next quarter", in an interview with Commissioner Hester Peirce published by the newsletter Crypto in America on 22 September 2026. Asked about the lag since the relief was issued, Lindman said: "I think there will be a bit of a lag time between when it came out and when we'll see the first firms filing their notices."
The relief he is describing is a five-year conditional exemption that lets a venue trade tokenised versions of US-listed shares without registering as a national securities exchange. A tokenised share here is a blockchain record that carries the economic and governance rights of the underlying share, not a contract that merely tracks the price. Trading on these venues is expected to run through automated market makers, which are programs that quote prices from a pool of assets rather than matching one buyer against one named seller, on public blockchains that anyone can read.
Two conditions matter more than the rest. The first is that a venue must have an identifiable operator, a named person or entity answerable for compliance. Lindman called the arrangement "more onchain finance than DeFi", meaning that whatever the technology looks like, someone is on the hook for it.
The issuer objection
The second is the provision that gives a company a say in whether its own shares are tokenised by somebody else. Under the exemption, a venue must give the issuer 30 days to object before its shares can be traded in token form, and an objection stops that venue from offering them. Peirce said she does not expect widespread objections, and told the interviewer: "The issuers that I've spoken with, a lot of them are really excited about something like this."
That is the first time a regulator has attached a formal veto to third party tokenisation, and it is a direct answer to a fight this market has already had. In early September 2026 the chief executive of the cinema chain AMC demanded that Robinhood stop offering unauthorised tokens tracking AMC stock, and Robinhood refused. Under the new exemption, a US issuer in that position has a documented step to take rather than a press release.
Peirce also said the volume and quantity caps built into the exemption are workable: "The caps are high enough that people can really do something viable." The exemption is explicitly temporary, running five years as a bridge to permanent rules.
Why this stops at the Atlantic
The exemption applies to tokenised US-listed stock. A company listed in London gets no objection right from it, and no venue operating under it will be quoting its shares. That matters because the tokenisation of UK-listed equity is being planned by other routes: on 1 September 2026 the London Stock Exchange said it would launch UK tokenised equity structures and work with Payward, the parent of the Kraken exchange, on tokenised public equity markets.
The open question for the UK is whether an issuer will get anything like the 30-day step. No equivalent mechanism appears in the UK material published so far, and neither the FCA nor the Bank of England has ruled on whether a company can block a third party from issuing tokens over its shares. An issuer objection right is a small piece of drafting with large consequences for control of a share register, and the United States has now put a number on it.
Frequently asked questions
When will the first SEC tokenised stock venues file their notices?
Taylor Lindman, chief counsel to the SEC's Crypto Task Force, said on 22 September 2026 that the first firms should file the notices required to operate a tokenised securities venue at some point in the next quarter.
What is the SEC exemption for tokenised stock venues?
It is a five-year conditional exemption that lets a venue trade tokenised versions of US-listed shares without registering as a national securities exchange. Each venue must have an identifiable operator answerable for compliance.
Can a company object to its shares being tokenised under the SEC exemption?
Yes. A venue must give the issuer 30 days to object before its shares can be traded in token form, and an objection stops that venue from offering them. Commissioner Hester Peirce said she does not expect widespread objections.
Does the SEC issuer objection right apply to UK-listed companies?
No. The exemption applies only to tokenised US-listed stock. No equivalent mechanism appears in UK material published so far, and neither the FCA nor the Bank of England has ruled on whether a company can block third party tokens over its shares.
This is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice.
Key takeaways
SEC Crypto Task Force chief counsel Taylor Lindman said on 22 September 2026 that the first tokenised securities venues should file their operating notices in the following quarter.
Every venue must have a named operator answerable for compliance, which rules out a genuinely operator-free market.
Issuers get 30 days to object before their shares trade in token form on a given venue, and an objection blocks that venue.
Commissioner Hester Peirce said she does not expect widespread objections and that the caps on volume and number of stocks are high enough to be commercially viable.
The relief covers US-listed stock only and lasts five years, so it sets a precedent for UK policy rather than a rule that applies to UK issuers.
Sources
Crypto in America, First Tokenized Stock Venues Could Take Shape Next Quarter Under the SEC's Innovation Exemption, 22 September 2026. cryptoinamerica.com
The Crypto Times, First Tokenized Stock Venues Could Launch Next Quarter, SEC Officials Say, 22 September 2026. cryptotimes.io
The Coin Republic, SEC Opens Door to Tokenized Stocks as First Venue Plans Near, 22 September 2026. thecoinrepublic.com
LSEG, London Stock Exchange to launch UK tokenised equity structures and announces partnership with Payward, 1 September 2026. lseg.com
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