Coinbase Charges into Tokenized Equities, Aiming to Shake Up Wall Street

Hang onto your hats, folks! The crypto giant Coinbase is charging headfirst into the world of tokenized equities, ready to shake up the stock trading game and give those old-school brokerages a run for their money. And they're doing it under President Donald Trump's watch, who's been waving the pro-crypto flag loud and proud.

Remember that nail-biting lawsuit Coinbase dodged under former President Joe Biden's SEC? Well, they're not backing down now. In a fiery interview, Coinbase's chief legal officer Paul Grewal spilled the beans: they're gunning for regulatory approval to launch these blockchain-based stocks. And they're not messing around!

Grewal didn't confirm if they've already thrown down the gauntlet with a formal request, but he made it crystal clear: this is a "huge priority" for Coinbase. They're banking on a no-action letter or some other SEC magic to make it happen. If they get the green light, watch out! Coinbase is coming for the big dogs like Robinhood and Charles Schwab, and they're not playing nice.

The promise and pitfall of tokenized stocks

This isn't just about adding a new shiny thing to their lineup. Coinbase is trying to drag Wall Street kicking and screaming onto the blockchain, and they're doing it under Trump's SEC, which has been throwing crypto companies a lot more love lately.

Crypto diehards have been shouting from the rooftops that blockchain could make traditional finance faster, cheaper, and clearer than a freshly Windexed window. Tokenized equities are putting that claim to the test. Forget about waiting days for your stocks to settle or getting gouged by brokers. With blockchain-based equities, we're talking instant settlement, lower fees, and trading 24/7, baby!

Coinbase's pitch to the SEC is simple: let's drag the old financial world onto the rails of the new. But to do that, they need the SEC to play ball and hand them a no-action letter - a golden ticket that says the agency won't come knocking, even if the rules are a bit fuzzy.

That no-action letter is the key to the kingdom. Without it, Coinbase could be back to square one. The SEC has been treating crypto like the black sheep of the financial family for years. And even with Trump's more crypto-friendly crew, they might think twice about giving the thumbs up to something that muddies the waters between stocks and digital assets.

But hold up, things are changing. The SEC under Trump has been dropping lawsuits against Binance, Kraken, and others like hot potatoes, and they seem more open to rewriting the rulebook. That's got companies like Coinbase feeling bold enough to dust off their big dreams.

And while other players like Kraken are already dipping their toes in the tokenized stock pool outside the U.S., Coinbase wants to do it right here at home, out in the open and by the book.