24/7 stocks are coming: Why SEC’s tokenization push matters for crypto

“Accessibility” has always been one of the biggest bridges between Wall Street and digital assets.

From this perspective, the SEC’s move to reopen the regulatory framework around tokenized equities through an “innovation exemption” naturally brings 24/7 trading back into focus.

The idea is simple: Give investors access to equities without market-hour restrictions, while bringing more liquidity to the market.

Against this backdrop, it’s no surprise the move has triggered a frenzy, with the SEC potentially launching the initiative as early as Friday. But the bigger question for market participants is what this means for crypto.

Notably, tokenization is already being viewed as the biggest potential catalyst for the crypto market.

From a technical standpoint, this thesis can’t be ruled out.

Top U.S. equity indexes, such as the NASDAQ, closed Q2 up more than 27%, while Bitcoin posted a 14% correction. The key takeaway? This divergence emerged after the geopolitical crisis that gripped the global markets toward the end of Q1, eventually feeding into the broader risk-off move across crypto.

The chart above clearly highlights this shift. The U.S. inflation rate climbed to a multi-year high of 4.2% in May, following two straight months of rising inflation before topping out. Yet, despite the macro uncertainty, capital continued flowing into U.S. equities. This clearly showed where investors were putting their money, with traditional markets attracting liquidity while crypto struggled.