Nasdaq urges SEC to treat certain digital assets as 'stocks by any other name'

Nasdaq has urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to classify certain digital assets as equivalent to traditional securities like stocks, advocating that their regulatory treatment should remain consistent regardless of whether they exist in paper, digital, or tokenized form.

In a 23-page letter submitted on April 25, 2025, Nasdaq emphasized the need for a clear taxonomy to categorize digital assets.

Tokens tied to traditional instruments like stocks or ETFs would be regulated as securities under existing SEC rules.

Tokenized agreements meeting the Howey test criteria would fall under SEC oversight but with "light touch" regulation.

Assets classified as commodities (e.g., certain cryptocurrencies) would be regulated.

Assets outside these categories would not be subject to securities or commodities regulations.

Nasdaq argued that the underlying nature of an asset-not its form-should dictate regulatory treatment, stating: “Whether it takes the form of a paper share, a digital share, or a token, an instrument’s underlying nature remains the same”. The proposal aims to integrate digital assets into existing market frameworks.

The SEC, under new leadership since January 2025, has narrowed its crypto oversight compared to the previous administration’s approach.

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