Bitcoin Hits $81,000 and Tokenization Tokens Surge After SEC Exemption

Bitcoin Reaches $81,000 as Tokenization Tokens Surge

Bitcoin hit $81,000 on Friday, its highest level since September 4, while tokens tied to trading tokenized securities onchain led a rally that began in Asia and extended into the U.S. session. NEAR Protocol gained 32%, Starknet 27%, and Arbitrum 26% over 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data cited by The Defiant.

Key Numbers

• Bitcoin traded at $80,829, up 5.8% on the day and 2.1% over the week.
• Ether rose 5% to $2,580.
• 111 of the 125 largest non-stablecoin tokens moved higher.
• Total crypto market value reached $2.8 trillion on $110 billion of volume.

What the SEC Exemption Allows

The rally followed a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) order on September 17 that grants a five-year conditional exemption for tokenized National Market System (NMS) stocks. The exemption allows a "Tokenized Securities Venue" to list up to 75 Tier 1 symbols and trade up to 0.25% of each stock's prior-month average daily volume. Tokenized shares must carry the same dividend rights, voting rights, and claim on residual assets as the underlying stock.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said in a statement that the Commission is "taking a significant step forward, within its statutory authority, to bring America's capital markets into the digital age," and that "this interim measure must be followed by durable rulemaking."

Market Reaction and Analysts' Views

Uniswap, which listed tokenized equities in June, saw its token jump 20%. Andrew Yang, an analyst at Kaiko, estimated tokenized equity volume on Uniswap at about $800 million a day, but noted that the SEC's condition of rights parity might not be met by all that volume.

The S&P 500 was 0.1% lower, indicating stocks did not follow crypto's gains. Polymarket traders raised the odds of a Federal Reserve rate increase at the October meeting to 56.5% from 46.5%.

What Is Confirmed

The SEC issued the exemption order and related statements. Bitcoin reached $81,000 and NEAR gained 32% on September 18.

What Is Still Unclear

The SEC's exemption is conditional, and its full impact on trading volumes remains to be seen. No specific announcement from NEAR accompanied its price rise.

Why It Matters

The SEC's move could enable more tokenized stock trading on blockchain networks, which may affect how securities are traded in the future. The rally in tokens like NEAR, Starknet, and Arbitrum indicates market participants are reacting to the news.

Sources

• The Defiant

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