Putting a security on a blockchain does not change its legal status, three SEC divisions said Wednesday, adding that tokenized assets face the same registration requirements as traditional instruments.
“The format in which a security is issued or the methods by which holders are recorded (e.g., on-chain vs. off-chain) does not affect application of the federal securities laws,” the statement reads.
On-chain transactions refer to securities transfers recorded directly on a blockchain or distributed ledger rather than through conventional database systems.
Issuers can offer tokenized securities as a separate class or alongside traditional shares, according to the statement. If a tokenized security is of substantially similar character and confers substantially similar rights and privileges, it may be treated as the same class for certain purposes under federal securities laws, regardless of format.
The only difference, it said, is that “instead of maintaining the master securityholder file through conventional, off-chain database records, the issuer (or its agent) maintains the master securityholder file on one or more crypto networks.”
While the guidance reinforces that securities laws apply regardless of technological format, it’s the same legal framework underpinning many of the cases the agency had abandoned.
But Wednesday's statement sidesteps the harder question those cases have raised on whether crypto-native products like tokens and staking programs are deemed securities in the first place.
The probe, approved by the Commission the following month, stood in contrast to public comments from former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who repeatedly declined to state whether the agency viewed ether as a security. The SEC later closed its Ethereum-related investigation without bringing enforcement action and declined to comment on its decision.
Disclosure: Consensys is one of 22 investors in an editorially independent Decrypt.
The staff statement is “saying, very clearly, ‘tokenization changes nothing legally’—but the unspoken reality is that tokenization changes everything operationally, and the existing securities framework is not built for on-chain market structure,” Andrew Rossow, public affairs attorney and CEO of AR Media Consulting, told Decrypt.
The SEC staff’s statement also does not answer “whether on-chain ledgers can replace or legally equal traditional books and records,” Rossow explained.
“Think of this from the overarching infrastructure. If a blockchain is the de facto cap table or bond register, but the SEC still requires transfer agents, registered custodians, and broker-dealers, then the blockchain is legally ornamental, not authoritative,” he added.
While the SEC appears to be “enforcing ‘technology neutrality’ while relying on technology-specific assumptions,” Rossow said, “neutrality at the classification level masks non-neutrality at the operational level.”
The SEC’s staff statement “freezes the baseline, defers structural reform, and shifts the burden to the entrepreneurial and innovative sectors by quietly expecting us to figure out how to ‘comply first, then come talk to us,’” he said.
