The US Securities and Exchange Commission has issued new guidance defining tokenised securities as either issuer-sponsored or third-party models, clarifying how federal securities laws apply.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the SEC said tokenised securities fall into two categories: those tokenised by issuers themselves and those tokenised by unaffiliated third parties.
“Tokenised securities generally fall into two categories: (1) securities tokenised by or on behalf of the issuers of such securities; and (2) securities tokenised by third parties unaffiliated with the issuers of such securities,”
The regulator said.
The SEC said issuer-sponsored tokenisation can involve onchain ownership records or crypto assets that update offchain ledgers, but legal treatment and registration requirements remain unchanged.
“The format in which a security is issued or the methods by which holders are recorded (onchain vs offchain) does not affect application of the federal securities laws,”
The regulator added.
For third-party tokenisation, the SEC outlined custodial models that represent indirect ownership and synthetic models that provide exposure without actual ownership, warning of added counterparty risks.