Analysts at Goldman Sachs and Citizens say the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) innovation exemption could deliver early benefits for Coinbase, Robinhood, and Circle. The views appear in research reports published by the two firms. The five-year framework allows qualifying tokenized U.S. stocks to trade through automated market makers (AMMs) on public blockchains, opening a defined regulatory pathway for onchain equities. Unlike a conventional exchange, an AMM prices trades through algorithms and pooled liquidity rather than by matching individual buy and sell orders — a structure familiar from decentralized finance that now anchors a formally sanctioned route for U.S. equity trading.

The framework carries conditions designed to protect investors: tokens must preserve shareholder rights, including dividends and voting, while trading venues face limits on trading volume and the number of stocks they can offer. According to the analysts, those same constraints may also restrict the impact on traditional exchanges. Those limits also frame the opportunity for firms: a five-year window to operate compliant onchain equity venues under explicit SEC conditions.

Coinbase Positioned to Benefit From Tokenized Stocks

Goldman Sachs said Coinbase could benefit across several parts of its business. The company's existing tokenized-equity offering already carries many of the traits the SEC requires, including shareholder rights and dividends comparable with the underlying stock.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said earlier this week that voting rights are “coming soon.” That feature would give token holders rights matching those of underlying shareholders.

The company also runs an institutional custody business, and Coinbase Tokenize supplies infrastructure for other firms putting assets onchain, Goldman added. Citizens analysts similarly pointed Coinbase's reach across custody, tokenized assets, stablecoins, and Base.

One hurdle remains for a direct trading venue, however. Coinbase's exchanges use central limit order books, while the SEC innovation exemption is built around automated market makers. Order books match buyers and sellers directly — the mechanism traditional exchanges run on — so serving tokenized stocks under the exemption would mean operating a different market structure than the one Coinbase uses today.

Robinhood Would Need a Compliant Redesign

Robinhood could also benefit, even though its current offshore stock tokens do not fit within the SEC innovation exemption. Those products give investors price exposure to U.S. shares through a derivative structure, and they do not convey the full ownership rights that the exemption requires. Goldman analysts said Robinhood would need additional product development to offer a compliant U.S. version.

The issue became a flashpoint earlier this month, when AMC Entertainment's CEO criticized Robinhood for offering AMC-linked stock tokens without the company's approval. The innovation exemption gives issuers the right to object before third-party tokenized versions of their shares begin trading — a mechanism that speaks directly to the approval gap at the center of that dispute.

Citizens analysts still expect Robinhood to move quickly. They cited the traction of its tokenized-equity offering outside the U.S. and its Arbitrum-based Robinhood Chain. CEO Vlad Tenev also signaled this week that share redemptions and voting rights will be added to the stock tokens — additions that would address the ownership-rights gap. Whether those features arrive as signaled is the near-term marker of how closely Robinhood's tokens can align with the exemption's requirements.

Circle Could Gain From USDC Settlement Demand

More tokenized securities trading could also raise demand for tokenized cash. The Goldman and Citizens reports both pointed to Circle as an indirect beneficiary, with the USDC stablecoin potentially serving settlement, collateral, and other activity around onchain markets. USDC is a dollar-pegged stablecoin that operates as cash on public blockchains — the onchain counterpart to the balances that clear and collateralize trades in traditional markets.

Coinbase would benefit here as well, through its economic exposure to USDC and its distribution role for the stablecoin.

Traditional Exchanges Appear Less Exposed for Now

Nasdaq and the NYSE's owner, Intercontinental Exchange, appear less exposed for now. Goldman said the new venues are unlikely to take meaningful volume from incumbent exchanges, citing the framework's trading caps, issuer opt-outs, and the limits of AMMs in deeper markets as supporting that view. Over the framework's five-year span, those caps, issuer participation, and AMM liquidity are the practical variables to watch.

Source: Blockonomi