Bitcoin Climbs Back Above $81,000 as SEC Opens the Door to Tokenized Stocks

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Bitcoin is trading above $81,000 again. The largest cryptocurrency rose to around $81,500 during the Asian session, up roughly 1.3 percent over 24 hours and about 5 percent on the week. The broader market followed: Ether, BNB, XRP and Solana all gained ground, and several smaller assets moved considerably more.

The main driver behind the recovery is a decision by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission taken last Thursday. The regulator cleared the way for onchain trading of tokenized U.S. stocks, a move that feeds directly into the blockchains where that trading is expected to happen.

What the SEC Actually Decided

The SEC issued what it calls an innovation exemption. For five years, it frees specialized trading platforms, known as tokenized securities venues, from the requirement to register as a traditional exchange. Trading runs through permissioned automated market makers and liquidity pools, within a gated environment that requires KYC checks and rules out margin trading and primary issuance.

The relief comes with a list of conditions. Each venue may list a maximum of 75 large U.S. stocks or 250 less liquid names. Trading volume is capped at 0.25 percent of daily volume for large caps and 2.5 percent for smaller ones. The tokens have to carry the same rights as the underlying shares, including dividends, voting rights and liquidation claims. Issuers get a 30-day window to object when a third party tokenizes their stock, and trading halts must sync automatically with the primary exchange. The smart contracts have to be publicly visible and auditable on a permissionless ledger.