Federal Reserve issues guidance on how banks should treat tokenized securities

U.S. banking regulators have clarified how tokenized securities should be treated under existing capital rules, stating that blockchain-based versions of traditional financial instruments will generally receive the same regulatory treatment as their conventional counterparts.

Regulators clarify capital rules for tokenized securities

In a set of frequently asked questions released by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, alongside the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, regulators said the capital framework applied to banks is designed to remain “technology neutral.”

Tokenized securities are digital representations of traditional assets, such as stocks or bonds, whose ownership rights are recorded and transferred using distributed ledger technology rather than traditional financial infrastructure.

According to the regulators, if a tokenized security confers legal rights identical to the underlying traditional security, it should receive the same regulatory capital treatment as the non-tokenized form.

“The technologies used to issue and transact in a security do not generally impact its capital treatment,” the agencies said in the guidance.

The clarification also states that banks should not apply different capital treatment depending on whether the tokenized security is issued on a permissioned or permissionless blockchain, reinforcing the technology-neutral stance.

Additionally, eligible tokenized securities that meet regulatory definitions may qualify as financial collateral, allowing banks to recognize them as credit risk mitigants under existing capital rules if all other requirements are satisfied.

The agencies said the FAQs were issued in response to growing interest among banks and financial institutions exploring blockchain-based financial infrastructure and tokenization.

Tokenization has emerged as one of the fastest-growing segments of the digital asset industry, with proponents arguing that blockchain-based securities could enable faster settlement, round-the-clock trading and improved market liquidity.

While the guidance does not introduce new regulations, it aims to provide clarity to banks considering tokenized securities activities and confirms that existing prudential standards will continue to govern these exposures.