Coinbase Tells SEC: Hands Off the Tokenization, Maestro

As the SEC warms up its regulatory typewriter for a new "innovation exemption" framework—slated to drop in a few weeks—Coinbase has stepped in with a polite but firm, "Actually, hold my beer."

The crypto exchange is pushing back hard against the idea that third-party tokenized securities need issuer consent. In a filing that could politely be described as "not thrilled," Coinbase argues that forcing third parties to get corporate permission before tokenizing public securities would violate decades of U.S. securities law. Because nothing says "regulatory clarity" like asking Apple if it's cool that you put their stock on-chain.

Translation: you don't need Apple's blessing to resell an iPhone on eBay, so why should Nasdaq get a veto every time someone wants to put shares on-chain? The analogy practically writes itself, but apparently the SEC needed a 47-page memo to consider it.

Scott Bauguess, VP of Global Regulatory Policy at Coinbase, laid it out cleanly—third-party tokenization doesn't create a new security or strip away shareholder rights. Requiring issuer approval, he says, would hand companies an unjustified veto over secondary market activity. That's not innovation; that's a regulatory tollbooth. Pass the ETC, please.

The exchange also pointed to the SEC's own mixed signals—like