SEC Delays Tokenization Exemption Again as CLARITY Act Stalls

Another Delay for the Innovation Exemption

The SEC’s tokenization “innovation exemption,” a proposed framework that would let firms test blockchain-based trading of tokenized U.S. equities without meeting the full slate of standard exchange and broker-dealer requirements, has been pushed back again, per crypto policy journalist Eleanor Terrett.

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Terrett’s reporting points to a specific cause, i.e. the tokenization section of the Senate’s CLARITY Act draft. Section 10505 of the bill establishes that tokenized securities keep their status as securities for regulatory purposes and directs the SEC to study how they should be treated, covering custody requirements, consumer protections, cross-border issues and coordination between regulators.

If the SEC moves ahead with its own exemption before lawmakers finish negotiating that section, it risks unsettling a compromise that took months to reach among industry stakeholders. As a result, the exemption may stay on hold until the CLARITY Act’s path becomes clearer.

The delay is even more notable given SEC Chair Paul Atkins has made the tokenization exemption a centerpiece of his broader Project Crypto initiative, an agenda that also includes a Regulation Crypto rulemaking package covering token registration exemptions, a safe harbor for decentralizing projects, and new custody and trading-venue rules for broker-dealers. Atkins has previously signaled the exemption was close to release, which makes the renewed delay a setback for firms that had been preparing to launch tokenized trading products around it.

A Second SEC Meeting Falls Through the Same Week

The tokenization delay landed the same week the SEC abruptly canceled a separate Friday meeting where commissioners were set to vote on proposed exemptions for crypto startup fundraising, part of the broader Regulation Crypto package.

An SEC spokesperson attributed the postponement to an unforeseen scheduling issue and said the meeting would be “moved to a later date,” without specifying when. The spokesperson added that the agency remains “committed to delivering on the President’s agenda to bring certainty to the crypto space.”

The startup exemption proposal would have let early-stage crypto companies raise capital without fully complying with standard securities-offering rules, an approach regulators have floated as a way to keep token issuance onshore.

The vote would have also marked the SEC’s first formal rulemaking action under the Regulation Crypto banner, making its cancellation a bigger setback than a routine scheduling slip. Coming so soon after the tokenization exemption delay, the back-to-back postponements have fueled speculation that the SEC is deliberately holding its rulemaking calendar open until Congress signals more clearly where the CLARITY Act is headed.

CLARITY Act’s Rocky Path Through the Senate

The CLARITY Act would create the first comprehensive federal framework for digital assets, splitting oversight between the SEC, which would govern new token sales, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which would oversee secondary trading. The House passed its version of the bill in July 2025, and the Senate Banking Committee advanced its own draft by a 15-9 vote in May of this year.

Momentum has since cooled, and the bill missed its planned August window; the Senate is not expected to hold a procedural vote until September 15, following its recess.

The SEC has not set a new date for either the tokenization exemption or the canceled startup-exemption vote. Both are likely to stay parked until the Senate’s September 15 procedural vote provides a clearer signal on the CLARITY Act’s prospects. If the bill clears that hurdle, the SEC could move quickly to finalize an exemption calibrated to match the legislation.