According to industry executives and lawyers, tokenized stocks and private equity may face multiple legal challenges, as these emerging real-world assets (RWA) currently exist in a regulatory gray area and do not grant holders the same legal rights as traditional asset owners.
Financial technology company B2BROKER's Chief Business Officer John Murillo stated in an email to Cointelegraph that investors should understand the fundamental attributes of any potential tokenized stock products, including whether they provide dividend yields, profit-sharing arrangements, or if these tokenized RWAs only offer asset value appreciation to holders. Murillo pointed out:
"Investors cannot directly claim company assets, have no voting rights, and cannot access internal financial information of the company," Murillo added.
This important distinction was further highlighted after the hybrid asset trading platform Robinhood announced the offering of OpenAI and SpaceX "private equity" tokens to European users, with OpenAI later clarifying that these tokens do not represent equity in the company.
Tyler Yagman, a lawyer at Ferraro Law Firm, told Cointelegraph, "I believe incidents similar to the 'OpenAI Token' will happen again, as the way tokenized securities are marketed to retail investors will cause significant confusion."
Despite these confusions, Yagman added that tokenized stocks have "extremely attractive" application scenarios, "capable of integrating multiple functions of the securities market into a single technology."
He called for clear and comprehensive regulations related to tokenized stocks to "democratize access to an asset class that is otherwise difficult to reach."
Robinhood is not the only brokerage platform exploring tokenized stock trading; the platform has joined an increasing number of crypto giants actively promoting or already offering tokenized stock trading services.
Cryptocurrency exchanges like Kraken and Bybit have launched tokenized stock trading, with the two platforms supporting trading for over 60 listed companies' stocks.
Blockchain platform Centrifuge announced a partnership with S&P Dow Jones Indices to tokenize the S&P 500 index and incorporate it into the decentralized finance (DeFi) application ecosystem.
Reports indicate that cryptocurrency exchange giant Coinbase is seeking approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to offer tokenized stock trading services to its customers.
Under the leadership of Chairman Paul Atkins, the U.S. SEC has shown a positive attitude towards industry requests to promote tokenized financial assets.
Atkins stated in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, "Tokenization is an innovation, and we at the SEC should focus on how to promote market innovation."
Related: Three kidnappers in Belgium's cryptocurrency kidnapping case sentenced to 12 years in prison
Original article: “Lawyer's View: Tokenized Equity Still in Regulatory Gray Zone”
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