Citadel Securities Urges SEC to Apply Exchange Rules to DeFi Protocols Handling Tokenized Securities

Citadel Securities has urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to classify decentralized finance protocols as exchanges and broker-dealers when they facilitate tokenized securities trading. In a letter dated Tuesday, the trading firm warned that broad regulatory exemptions would create inconsistent standards for identical securities and weaken investor protections. The proposal has drawn sharp criticism from cryptocurrency industry leaders who argue it misinterprets existing law and threatens innovation.