The latest tokenized stock filing from the 24X National Exchange has put Wall Street’s main plumbing at the forefront of the stock tokenization race.
The exchange filed SR-24X-2026-20 on June 11, with the SEC issuing its notice on June 16 and the June 22 notice placing the filing in the Federal Register.
The rule change would allow eligible 24X members to trade certain securities in tokenized form during a Depository Trust Company pilot, according to the notice filed by the SEC.
The filing presents tokenization as an upgrade to the national market system rather than a workaround. The model described by 24X maintains the exchange, DTC, participant eligibility, order entry controls and protection of shareholder rights.
The token layer changes how eligible positions can be represented and settled, while the legal identity of the stock and the market structure around the transaction remains intact.
The brief’s answer is practical: tokenized stocks are like legacy market infrastructure adding a token wrapper.
The token layer remains inside the market system even with tokenized stocks
The filing would change the 24X rules covering eligible titles, member access, priority order and routing. The proposed structure would allow eligible DTC participants to trade tokenized versions of eligible equity securities and exchange-traded products on 24X during the DTC pilot.
The SEC notice states that the securities would be traded within the current National Market System, using DTC to clear and settle tokenized transactions based on instructions selected during order entry.
This keeps tokenized stock activity connected to the same market architecture that governs common stock traded on exchanges.
24X also framed the proposal as part of an exchange-driven model. The filing says it is based on a similar Nasdaq proposal that the SEC has already approved.
Nasdaq’s approved precedent shows that the same DTC-enabled exchange model can expand to all national securities exchanges.
It is the tension between the old pipes and the new tokens that is at the center of the story. Crypto traders are used to thinking of tokenization as a way to move assets outside of traditional intermediaries.
The 24X repository goes in the opposite direction: regulated exchanges are preparing to offer tokenized access while preserving institutions that already control exchange transactions, custody records and post-trade settlement.
The table reflects the repository’s central tradeoff: tokenization adds a new layer of representation, but every essential market function remains tied to a familiar regulated gate.
The token format only works when exchange rules and DTC systems allow it.
Same stock, different shape
The proposed rule text in Exhibit 5 is the strongest evidence that 24X treats tokenization as a form of the same security.
Depending on the proposed language, a security can be traded in traditional form or, during the DTC pilot, in tokenized form.
A DTC-eligible tokenized security would be tradable on the same 24X ledger and with the same execution priority as the traditional version only if it is fungible with the traditional stock, has the same CUSIP and trading code, and offers the same rights and privileges.
These linguistic rights are important. The deposit binds symbolic treatment to the same set of rights as traditional title.
A tokenized instrument that does not carry these rights or share the same CUSIP and symbol would be treated as a separate product rather than a tokenized form of the existing stock.
The repository also makes tokenization a controlled preference. Eligible participants who desire tokenized payment will select a designated indicator during order entry.
This indicator may include information required by the DTC, such as blockchain and wallet address. 24X would communicate the instruction to DTC, but DTC would only execute the preference if it met the rules, policies, procedures, and the terms of DTC’s no-action letter.
If the member is not eligible, the title is not eligible, the blockchain is not compatible, or the wallet is not registered with the DTC, the order remains in traditional form.
This fallback reveals the checkpoint. The token layer is subordinate to the DTC eligibility and redemption procedures, not the other way around.
This creates a practical boundary for the entire file. Tokenized access can exist, but it must go through member eligibility, security eligibility, wallet registration, blockchain compatibility, and the DTC’s own operating limits.
The further a tokenized product strays from these controls, the further it strays from the route 24X is asking to use here.
DTC Keeps the Registration Layer Close for Tokenized Actions
The 24X proposal is contingent on the DTC tokenization pilot, which is based on a December 11, 2025 SEC staff no-action letter.
This letter describes a pilot version of DTCC’s tokenization services that allows DTC participants to choose to record rights to securities owned by DTC on a distributed ledger rather than solely on DTC’s centralized ledger.
The pilot project is participant-based. A DTC participant would register one or more approved blockchain addresses as registered wallets.
If the Participant requests DTC to tokenize an Eligible Security Entitlement, DTC will debit the Entitlement from the Participant’s Account, credit it to a Digital Omnibus Account, and create a token representing that Entitlement in the Participant’s Registered Wallet.
Cede & Co., DTC’s nominee, would remain the registered owner of the underlying securities represented by token rights.
DTC would also track token movements through LedgerScan, an off-chain system that monitors wallet activity and serves as DTC’s official books and records for tokenized rights.
This architecture gives tokenization certain blockchain-like properties while retaining the record of equity in the controlled environment of DTC.
Tokens can move between registered wallets linked to participants, but DTC maintains visibility and sets technology standards.
The pilot also includes limitations: Eligible securities include Russell 1000 securities, U.S. Treasuries and major index ETFs; tokenized rights receive no collateral or settlement value for DTC risk controls; The DTC must report quarterly to the SEC staff; And the employee position is eliminated three years after the launch unless there is a change in management.
These details make the deposit more substantial. 24X and DTC are building a controlled path for token access within the machinery that already lies behind US stock trading.
This controlled path still leaves practical unknowns for the market. 24X must identify eligible securities, DTC must determine which participants, blockchains, and wallets are approved, and operational value must become visible to users who may never directly see the DTC layer.
The real tokenized stock competition is distributed
24X repository leaves capture of crypto-native sites unresolved. However, this shows that regulated sites build a route consistent with the demand for token actions before answering this competitive question.
This distinction changes the competitive framework, as the history of tokenized stocks has often been presented as a straight fight between crypto apps and traditional brokers.
Crypto-native platforms can offer global access, familiar wallet interfaces, and always-on user behavior. Products that simply track stock prices or rely on wrappers can still deprive their holders of all the rights of a stock.
The 24X-DTC model attacks this gap from the other direction. It preserves the rights and market identity of the underlying security, but it does so while keeping access within exchange controls and DTC.
The trade-off is clear: the model may seem less open than a crypto-native product, but it keeps action within a legal and operational framework familiar to issuers, brokers, regulators and institutions.
The DTC pilot model has already been visible in CryptoSlate’s previous coverage of the DTC tokenization pilot: Tokenization is introduced via existing custody and settlement rails, with limited eligibility and reporting requirements.
Separate plans from ICE and NYSE point to other approaches in place, including a planned tokenized securities platform with permanent and faster settlement ambitions, but this is separate from the 24X depository’s DTC pilot structure.
The immediate signal of SR-24X-2026-20 is a specific compromise: make access tokenized, but keep security, ledger, rights, and settlement controls recognizable on Wall Street.
The next test is whether this compromise is useful enough. If DTC-enabled exchange tokenization provides meaningful after-hours access, global distribution, or operational efficiency without violating shareholder rights, existing infrastructure may possess the first mainstream version of tokenized shares.
If it seems too permissioned or too hidden from end users, crypto applications will continue to press the distribution argument.
For now, the route is formed via DTC. Tokenized stocks can arrive with a blockchain reference in the order flow, but the main path always goes through DTC.