Crypto-linked stocks have endured a volatile few days after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act on Sept. 15 and the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points a day lat
Crypto-linked stocks have endured a volatile few days after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act on Sept. 15 and the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points a day later.
Following the Senate vote, Coinbase fell 10.1%, Circle dropped 11.5%, Strategy declined 5.4% and Robinhood lost 3.4%. Bitcoin also slid below $76,000 as investors digested the regulatory setback and tighter monetary policy.
But sentiment improved Thursday as the Securities and Exchange Commission unveiled a new pathway that could bring a major feature of crypto markets to traditional finance: blockchain-based trading of U.S. stocks.
Related: LIVE: CLARITY Act fails Senate cloture vote
The SEC on Sept. 17 issued two conditional, five-year exemptions allowing certain blockchain trading venues and liquidity providers to facilitate trading in tokenized representations of U.S. stocks.
Tokenization creates a blockchain-based representation of an asset. Under the SEC framework, eligible stock tokens must carry the same rights as the underlying shares, including dividends and voting rights.
Companies must also receive 30 days’ notice and can object to their shares being tokenized.
Related: What is tokenization? Explained
The framework takes effect immediately and could eventually allow stock trading to operate more like crypto markets, including longer trading hours and blockchain-based settlement.
It comes two days after the CLARITY Act stalled, with the SEC instead using its existing authority to advance parts of the crypto regulatory framework.
“The Innovation Exemption is designed to resolve challenges that have prevented responsible innovation from taking root in the United States while providing investor protections and market integrity standards,” SEC Chair Paul Atkins said.
Markets moved higher Thursday morning. Coinbase rose 3.74% to $170.40, Circle gained 4.2% to $83.81, Robinhood climbed 3.25% to $107.12 and Strategy 5.22% to $133.00.
crypto market heatmap at press timeCrypto also recovered, with Bitcoin near $76,560, up 1.1%, Ether gaining 2.6% to roughly $2,457 and Solana rising 3.2% to about $100.36.
Related: Elon Musk is finally putting Dogecoin on the moon today
