SEC Grants WisdomTree Landmark Exemption for Intraday Tokenized Fund Trading

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has signaled a transformative shift in its approach to digital assets by granting WisdomTree a first-of-its-kind regulatory exemption. This "one-off" relief allows for the intraday trading of tokenized shares in the Treasury Money Market Digital Fund, a move that effectively bridges the gap between the rigid, end-of-day settlement cycles of traditional mutual funds and the near-instantaneous liquidity of blockchain technology. By permitting transactions to occur throughout the trading day rather than at a single Net Asset Value (NAV) strike at market close, the SEC is acknowledging that distributed ledger technology (DLT) can enhance market efficiency without compromising the core tenets of investor protection.

This development is a watershed moment for the "tokenization of real-world assets" (RWA), a sector that has seen explosive interest from institutional players seeking to modernize the aging plumbing of global finance. Historically, mutual fund investors have been bound by the "forward pricing" rule, which requires orders to be executed at the next calculated NAV, typically at 4:00 PM ET. This delay creates a friction point for investors who need immediate liquidity or want to use their holdings as collateral in real-time digital ecosystems. WisdomTree’s new capability removes this barrier, potentially allowing its Treasury Money Market Digital Fund to function more like a stablecoin or a highly liquid exchange-traded fund (ETF), but within the robust regulatory framework of the Investment Company Act of 1940.

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Will Peck, WisdomTree’s head of digital assets, noted that the company is "thrilled" with the development, which positions the firm at the forefront of the next generation of capital markets.

The SEC’s decision, as articulated by Brian Daly, the agency's head of Investment Management, emphasizes that the relief "preserves the protections of a regulated money market fund while permitting retail investors intra-day liquidity." This statement is critical for the broader industry, as it suggests the regulator is moving toward a more pragmatic, "same activity, same risk, same regulation" framework. Rather than forcing blockchain-based products into a new, untested regulatory silo, the SEC is showing a willingness to adapt existing rules to accommodate the technical advantages of tokenization. This is a significant pivot from the "regulation by enforcement" narrative that has dominated the digital asset space in recent years.