US Regulators Say Banks Can Treat Tokenized Securities Like Traditional Assets Without Extra Capital

US banking regulators clarified that banks do not need to hold additional capital solely because securities are tokenized and transacted on blockchain infrastructure, the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said. The agencies stated that tokenized securities representing the same underlying asset as traditional instruments should receive identical capital treatment, regardless of whether they run on permissioned or permissionless networks, and that the same principle extends to derivatives linked to such tokenized assets. This stance aligns with the Securities and Exchange Commission's view that tokenized securities fall under existing securities laws, a consistency that some market participants say could encourage banks to expand into tokenized products. The clarification comes as RWA.xyz data show tokenized public equities have reached an estimated value of $1.1 billion, with issuers including major asset managers such as Franklin Templeton and BlackRock as well as crypto-focused firms offering tokenized shares, particularly in Europe.