该国最高证券监管机构上月推动将代币化股票交易引入美国。如今，美国企业界正在反击。
The country’s top securities regulator made a push last month to bring tokenized stock trading to the U.S. Now, corporate America is pushing back.
根据监管文件，AI芯片制造商博通、电信巨头维瑞森通信和联合健康等公司正对证券交易委员会（SEC）关于代币化其股票的计划提出异议。
AI chip maker Broadcom, telecom stalwart Verizon Communications and UnitedHealth are among the companies objecting to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s plan for tokenizing their stocks, according to a regulatory filing.
许多交易所和交易场所渴望提供代表传统股份的数字代币，这些代币可实现24小时交易。其目标是吸引一类新一代投资者——他们成长于加密货币时代，希望随时交易。但一些公司担心，SEC的代币化计划可能导致影子股票市场的出现，扭曲交易并使投资者困惑。
Many exchanges and trading venues are eager to offer digital tokens that represent traditional shares and can trade 24/7. The goal is to appeal to a class of new-age investors who have grown up on crypto and want to trade round-the-clock. But some companies worry the SEC’s plan for tokenization might create a shadow stock market, distort trading and confuse investors.
即便是正在开发自身代币化平台的纳斯达克也表示，在SEC提出的框架下，它将选择不对自身股票进行代币化。该交易所运营商在其网站的常见问题解答中指出，该计划可能在国家市场体系之外创建一个平行市场——国家市场体系是一套规则，用于约束美国股票交易所，并帮助确保投资者在任何平台上都能获得最佳交易价格。
And even Nasdaq, which is developing its own tokenization platform, has said it would opt out of having its own shares tokenized under the framework proposed by the SEC. In an FAQ on its website, the exchange operator cited concerns that the plan could create a parallel market outside the National Market System, a series of rules that bind U.S. stock exchanges and help ensure investors get the best available prices on trades on any platform.
“我们认为，我们的股票不应在无法实时显示最佳价格、未向综合行情板报价或未能提供投资者所期望透明度的交易场所交易，”纳斯达克发言人表示，并补充称该交易所仍致力于代币化业务。
“We have determined that our shares should not trade on a venue that does not display best prices in real time, report to the consolidated tape, or provide the transparency investors expect,” said a Nasdaq spokesperson, adding that the exchange remains committed to tokenization.
一些华尔街人士警告称，这一新框架为上市公司埋藏了隐藏风险。代币化交易平台向公司电子邮箱或邮寄地址发送的通知可能不会被主动监控，若在30天内未作回应，则被视为默示同意。此外，该框架不提供全面的退出机制，意味着公司必须逐个监控并反对每个交易场所。
Some Wall Street players warn that the new framework creates hidden risks for public companies. Notices sent by tokenized trading platforms to corporate emails or postal addresses are potentially not actively monitored, and failing to respond within 30 days is treated as tacit consent. Moreover, the framework offers no blanket opt-out, meaning companies will have to monitor and object to every trading venue individually.
上个月，美国证券交易委员会（SEC）发布的一项命令临时豁免了获批准的交易场所和做市商，使其免受此前阻碍代表上市公司股份的数字代币交易的某些规则限制。
The SEC’s order last month temporarily exempts authorized trading venues and market makers from certain rules that previously prevented trading in digital tokens that represent shares of listed companies.
但该命令附带了一些保障措施：SEC 豁免所允许的代币将赋予投资者与传统股票相同的股东权利，包括股息分红和代理投票权。此外，在代币化证券交易场所开始交易任何股票之前，必须向发行公司提前 30 天发出通知。如果公司提出异议，该场所则无法继续进行发行。
But it comes with some safeguards: The tokens permitted by the SEC exemptions will carry the same shareholder rights granted to investors in traditional stocks, including dividend payouts and proxy votes. And before a tokenized securities venue can begin trading any stock, it must give the issuing company 30 days notice. If the company objects, the venue can’t proceed with the offering.
对于许多公司发行人而言，这一 30 天的决策窗口正在迅速关闭。上周，纽约证券交易所所有者洲际交易所（ICE）与加密货币交易所 OKX 各持 50% 股权的合资公司 OKXICE 成为首批向监管机构通报其计划的实体之一，宣布将在 SEC 框架下启动代币化股票交易平台，由此触发了该时钟。
The 30-day decision window is rapidly closing for many corporate issuers. OKXICE, a 50-50 joint venture between New York Stock Exchange owner Intercontinental Exchange and crypto exchange OKX, triggered the clock last week when it became one of the first entities to notify regulators of their plans to launch a tokenized stock-trading platform under the SEC’s framework.
九家公司几乎不需要时间就做出了决定。除了博通、威瑞森和联合健康之外，Cerebras Systems、AppLovin、Applied Digital、Rocket Lab、CoreWeave 和 Applied Optoelectronics 也均已选择退出。
Nine companies needed little time to make up their mind. In addition to Broadcom, Verizon and UnitedHealth, Cerebras Systems, AppLovin, Applied Digital, Rocket Lab, CoreWeave and Applied Optoelectronics have each opted out.
Applied Optoelectronics 的一位女发言人表示，该光纤制造商提出异议是因为尚不确定代币化将如何影响其股价、流动性和波动性。
A spokeswoman for Applied Optoelectronics said the fiber-optic manufacturer objected because it wasn’t sure how tokenization would affect its stock price, liquidity and volatility.
她还说：“我们也在关注投资者可能对 AOI 参与此次发行产生困惑的风险，而我们并未赞助或认可该发行。”“目前，我们尚未看到 AOI 或我们股东能获得明确收益以证明这些不确定性是合理的。”
“We are also mindful of the risk of investor confusion about AOI’s involvement in the offering, which we did not sponsor or endorse,” she said. “At this stage, we don’t see a clear benefit to AOI or our shareholders that justifies these uncertainties.”
OKXICE 表示，它仍计划在 OKX 开发的名为 X Layer 的区块链上，为包括英伟达、苹果、微软、亚马逊、字母特斯拉、摩根大通和沃尔玛在内的数十家美国上市公司启动代币交易。
OKXICE said it still plans to launch trading for dozens of U.S.-listed companies on X Layer, a blockchain developed by OKX, including Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Tesla, JPMorgan Chase and Walmart.
安德鲁·库莫，OKXICE的联合主席，表示他预计一些公司会对将股票代币化持怀疑态度并保持谨慎，这对于任何重大变革来说都是可以预见的。“这是向证券代币化迈出的第一步，”库莫，前纽约州州长，在接受《华尔街日报》最近一次采访时这样表示。
Andrew Cuomo, the co-chair of OKXICE, has said that he expects some companies to be skeptical and exercise caution about tokenizing their stocks and that is to be expected for any major change. “It is the first step toward tokenizing securities,” Cuomo, the former governor of New York, said in a recent interview with The Journal.
市场做商Citadel Securities去年在向美国证券交易委员会（SEC）提交的一封信中表示，这些豁免可能会促成“美国‘暗盘’股票市场”的出现，并“允许代币化的美国股票完全脱离国家市场体系进行交易”。该公司认为，绕过传统交易所规则可能会导致流动性碎片化，即交易活动分散到不同平台，并削弱投资者保护。
Market maker Citadel Securities said in a letter to the SEC last year that the exemptions could facilitate the “emergence of a ‘shadow’ U.S. equity market” and “allow tokenized U.S. equities to trade completely outside of the national market system.”The firm argued that bypassing traditional exchange rules could fragment liquidity, or scatter trading activity across different platforms, and undermine investor protections.
纳斯达克也表达了同样的观点，认为这种“暗盘”市场“可能在定价和价格透明度方面与更广泛的市场脱节”。他们的担忧并非毫无根据。海外，合成代币——这些代币追踪股票价格但不赋予所有权——有时在非交易时段和交易量低的时期会与实际股票价值出现显著偏离。批评者警告，类似风险可能在美国证券交易委员会的框架下出现，包括价格追踪误差、关于代理投票和股息分配的混淆，以及如果个人投资者在与基础股票交易表现截然不同的代币中遭受重大损失，公司发行人可能面临的法律责任。
Nasdaq echoed this point, arguing this shadow market “can become disconnected from the broader market in both pricing and price transparency.”Their worries aren’t unfounded. Overseas, synthetic tokens, which track stock prices without conferring ownership rights, sometimes deviated significantly from real stock values during off hours and periods of low trading volume. Critics warn that similar risks could emerge under the SEC’s framework, including price tracking errors, confusion around proxy voting and dividend distributions as well as legal liabilities for corporate issuers if individual investors suffer big losses in tokens that trade wildly different from the underlying stocks.
今年早些时候，美国证券交易委员会批准了纳斯达克的提案，允许以代币化形式交易某些股票和交易所交易产品。该交易所参与了一项试点，旨在将华尔街公司存放在托管与结算公司（Depository Trust & Clearing，一家领先的交易处理机构）中的证券进行代币化。它还在与加密货币交易所Kraken以及发行公司合作，以制定在其交易所提供代币化股票的计划。
Earlier this year, the SEC approved Nasdaq’s proposal to allow the trading of some stocks and exchange-traded products in tokenized forms. The exchange took part in a trial run to tokenize securities that Wall Street firms keep at Depository Trust & Clearing, a leading trade processor. It is also working with crypto exchange Kraken and issuing companies in developing its plan to offer tokenized stocks on its exchange.
代币化公司Securitize总裁布雷特·雷德菲恩表示，一些企业发行人可能会反对在单一代币化交易场所上市，但并不完全反对代币化。Securitize最近为美国投资者推出了代币化股票交易，其代币化的股票预计将在OKXICE平台上交易。
Brett Redfearn, president of tokenization firm Securitize, said some corporate issuers could object to being listed on one tokenized trading venue without rejecting tokenization altogether. Securitize recently rolled out tokenized stock trading for U.S. investors and the stocks it tokenizes are expected to trade on OKXICE’s platform.
一些律师指出，SEC的创新豁免是一项有限的实验，旨在收集信息，而非承诺永久使用这一框架。Cooley律师事务所合伙人罗德里戈·塞拉表示，该所已与该机构多次沟通，并预计当前的创新豁免将进行修订。
Some lawyers note that the SEC’s innovation exemptions are a limited experiment to gather information, not a commitment to using this framework permanently. Rodrigo Seira, a partner at law firm Cooley, said the firm has spoken with the agency a couple of times and expects revisions to the current innovation exemptions.
“他们通过这一豁免令所做的部分工作是尽可能获取更多信息，以便为其最终规则提供依据并使其更完善，同时也使其在潜在的行政挑战面前更具可辩护性，”塞拉说。
“Part of what they’re doing with this exemptive order is trying to get as much information as they can so that they can inform their ultimate rules and make them better, and also make them more defensible from a potential administrative challenge,” Seira said.
请致函Vicky Ge Huang，邮箱：vicky.huang@wsj.com
Write to Vicky Ge Huang at vicky.huang@wsj.com