Wall Street regulator allows intraday trading of tokenized WisdomTree money market fund

WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday said it had granted a special request from the asset manager WisdomTree to allow intraday trading in tokenized shares of a money market fund, adding that this could speed settlement times and ease access for retail investors.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

Without Monday’s one-off exemption from SEC regulations on mutual fund pricing, investors in the Treasury Money Market Digital Fund would be required to transact with the fund at the end of the day. The announcement is another step in broadening the tokenization of capital markets, or allowing transactions to occur on distributed ledgers known as the blockchain.

In a statement, WisdomTree head of digital assets Will Peck said the company was “thrilled” at the development, which he said was the first of any tokenized mutual fund.

KEY QUOTE

“This relief preserves the protections of a regulated money market fund while permitting retail investors intra-day liquidity,” Brian Daly, the SEC’s head of Investment Management, said in a statement. 

CONTEXT

Tokenized securities have gained increasing attention as crypto companies have sought to capitalize on Washington’s warming regulatory environment toward digital assets.

(Reporting by Douglas Gillison in Washington and Hannah Lang in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)