Fidelity has urged the US Securities and Exchange Commission to move further in clarifying how broker-dealers can participate in crypto-related activity, including pathways for trading tokenized securities on alternative trading systems (ATS). The comments were reported by Cointelegraph.

Why this matters

Broker-dealers and large financial institutions have been exploring tokenized assets, on-chain settlement and crypto market infrastructure for years. Regulatory uncertainty has been a major limiter—especially around custody, market structure and how tokenized securities fit into existing frameworks.

What Fidelity is advocating

Cointelegraph reports Fidelity’s message to the SEC’s crypto task force centered on:

- Support for tokenized securities trading on ATS venues

- Deeper guidance to enable traditional finance (TradFi) integration with on-chain rails

Potential market implications

If the SEC provides clearer rules or safe harbors, it could accelerate:

- Tokenized treasury, fund and equity experiments

- Institutional adoption of on-chain settlement workflows

- New competition among broker-dealers, exchanges and ATS operators

Risks and open questions

Even with supportive guidance, major issues remain, including:

- Custody standards and segregation of client assets

- Market surveillance and manipulation controls across venues

- Interoperability between regulated securities systems and public blockchains

What to watch next

The next signal will be whether the SEC responds with additional guidance, pilot programs, or approvals that broaden broker-dealer permissions for digital assets and tokenized securities.