U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce said on 9 July that digital tokens representing stocks or other assets remain subject to existing federal securities laws. In a statement, Peirce stressed that “tokenized securities are still securities,” warning market participants to observe registration, disclosure and trading requirements regardless of whether the assets trade on-chain or through traditional venues. She also cautioned about counterparty risk and possible restrictions on retail trading when tokens resemble security-based swaps. The industry push to move more assets onto blockchains drew further scrutiny on 21 July when Citadel Securities urged the SEC to proceed slowly and open a formal rule-making process before broader adoption of tokenization. The market-making firm said rapid rollout could confuse investors and create an uneven playing field, echoing Peirce’s call for compliance while signaling that large trading firms want clearer guardrails before embracing the technology. Peirce’s remarks and Citadel’s intervention highlight mounting regulatory pressure as financial institutions experiment with 24-hour blockchain settlement and fractionalized equity tokens. While the SEC has yet to propose new rules, the agency’s message is that innovation must fit within the nearly century-old securities framework, setting the stage for a policy debate over how fast Wall Street can shift its assets on-chain.