The SEC Is Crashing the Digital Stocks Party

For years, the promise of blockchain technology has captivated the financial world, hinting at a future where traditional assets are transformed into nimble, digital “tokens.” This vision, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce puts it, is “enchanting, but not magical.” She just sent a clear message to anyone hoping blockchain would free them from financial regulation: not so fast. Commissioner Peirce acknowledged the promise of tokenization, the process of turning real-world assets like stocks into blockchain-based digital tokens. But she warned that, no matter how...