SEC Moves to Modernize Transfer Agent Rules, Bringing Blockchain Into the Securities Playbook
AI Market Summary
The SEC's proposed overhaul of transfer agent rules would explicitly accommodate blockchain-based issuance and share transfer, raising the probability of clearer compliance pathways for onchain securities infrastructure. The proposal emphasizes a single authoritative ownership ledger (potentially tokens as the official record) and warns that fragmented wrapping and offchain databases could recreate past settlement frictions. Near-term market focus shifts to how Form TA-2 and identity standards treat native onchain registration versus wrappers.
Impact level
● Medium
Affected assets
ETH/USDT-0.17%
AI Insight · ETH/USDTAI Insight
● Neutral
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CoinDesk reported that on Sept. 1 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed its first major overhaul of transfer agent rules since the 1970s. SEC Chair Paul Atkins said the updated framework should explicitly cover the use of blockchain technology in securities issuance and the transfer of shares.
Joris Delanoue, cofounder of Fairmint, warned that scattering ownership records across token-wrapping layers, SPVs, broker-dealer internal ledgers and off-chain databases could recreate the late-1960s "paperwork crisis." He argued that tokens should function as the official ledger required under Section 17A of the Exchange Act, rather than serving as off-chain wrappers around securities.
The piece urges the industry to consolidate ownership data under a single open standard. It also recommends that the SEC, in Form TA2, clearly separate native on-chain registration from third-party wrapping models, allow modern identity identifiers such as cryptographic credentials, and integrate smart-contract pre-trade restrictions into compliance and enforcement mechanisms.
