Former FTX Europe chief targets U.S. tokenized stock trading with new SEC exemption
RWA Signal Insight
StocksPerpetuals.com, led by former FTX Europe executive Patrick Gruhn, has filed a notice to operate a tokenized U.S. stock marketplace under the SEC's new five-year innovation exemption. This regulatory framework allows marketplaces to facilitate the trading of tokenized equities on public blockchains without registering as traditional securities exchanges. The platform, operated by Delaware-based subsidiary Kephas Corporation, plans to utilize permissioned automated market maker liquidity pools on the Kronos X Public layer-2 blockchain. Unlike previous stock-linked tokens that lacked shareholder rights, these new tokens must provide dividends and voting rights to comply with SEC requirements. Perpetuals.com follows the recent filing by OKXICE, marking a growing institutional interest in leveraging the SEC's September exemption for round-the-clock equity trading. The company intends to pair tokenized stocks with USDC, with potential trading commencement as early as mid-November pending compliance and security reviews. This development represents a significant shift toward integrating traditional equity markets with blockchain infrastructure under a formal U.S. regulatory pathway.
Key points
- Perpetuals.com filed to trade tokenized U.S. stocks under the SEC's five-year innovation exemption.
- Trading will occur on the Kronos X Public layer-2 blockchain using automated market maker pools.
- Tokens must include shareholder rights like dividends and voting to meet SEC compliance standards.
- The platform plans to pair tokenized equities with USDC for round-the-clock trading.
Background
The SEC's innovation exemption is a regulatory pilot program designed to allow alternative trading systems to experiment with blockchain-based settlement for securities. It aims to modernize market infrastructure by permitting public ledger usage while maintaining investor protections equivalent to traditional exchanges. This framework specifically addresses the historical regulatory friction surrounding tokenized equities that previously lacked formal prospectus or shareholder rights.