SEC Chairman: Tokenized securities are still subject to federal securities laws, and distributed ledger technology may bring multiple opportunities to the financial industry

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated during his appearance on the All-In Podcast that, from his perspective, distributed ledger technology (DLT) brings numerous potential advantages to the financial services industry. The industry is currently at a critical stage, with the prospect of achieving T+0 settlement, meaning nearly real-time completion of delivery and payment, potentially even through on-chain digital assets. He described this outlook as "very exciting," but to guard against risks such as fraud, there may still need to be certain "deceleration mechanisms" set up within the system.

However, he also pointed out that this model still faces some challenges, such as liquidity issues. In traditional markets, how the concept of "best bid and ask" is reflected under the new trading architecture remains one of the important issues that need to be addressed. Atkins emphasized that the SEC's fundamental principle is: if an asset is essentially a security, even if tokenized, its legal nature remains that of a security, and it must still comply with federal securities laws. At the same time, regulators have the responsibility to ensure that existing rules can adapt to new application scenarios. As the purposes of trading and methods of settlement change, the regulatory system also needs to make corresponding adjustments. He stated that the SEC is currently reviewing existing regulatory rules one by one to assess their compatibility with the emerging technological environment and to make institutional updates when necessary.