#ProjectCrypto

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday debuted "Project Crypto," an initiative to modernize securities rules and regulations to allow for crypto-based trading.

"To achieve President Trump's vision of making America the crypto capital of the world, the SEC must holistically consider the potential benefits and risks of moving our markets from an off-chain environment to an on-chain one," SEC chair Paul Atkins said in remarks to an "American Leadership in the Digital Finance Revolution" conference Thursday afternoon , referring to blockchain technology that enables cryptocurrencies, but has other applications as well.

"I have directed the Commission staff to update antiquated agency rules and regulations to unleash the potential of on-chain software systems in our securities markets ... Federal securities laws have always assumed the involvement of intermediaries that require regulation, but this does not mean that we should interpose intermediaries for the sake of forcing intermediation where the markets can function without them."

The announcement comes amid a groundswell of investor interest in tokenization, or the process of issuing digital representations on a blockchain network of publicly-traded securities, real world assets or any other form of value. Holders of tokenized assets don't have outright ownership of the assets themselves. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has said he sees the "tokenization of every financial asset" as an important step in "the technological revolution in the financial markets."

Crypto trading platforms Robinhood, Gemini and Kraken have all opened tokenized equity offerings to users outside the U.S., and Coinbase has said it's pushing for SEC for approval to offer a similar service.