Cryptocurrency exchange Binance confirmed plans to bring tokenized equities back to its platform, returning to stock-linked digital assets for the first time since 2021.

In a statement to Cointelegraph on Friday, a spokesperson for Binance said “exploring the potential to offer tokenized equities is a natural next step” for bridging traditional finance and crypto. Should the exchange reintroduce digital versions of stocks for companies, it would represent a significant change in Binance’s offerings since it announced “ceasing support for stock tokens” in July 2021.

“Binance is committed to bridging traditional finance and crypto, expanding user choices while maintaining the highest regulatory standards,” said the spokesperson. “Since last year, we started supporting tokenized real-world assets and we recently launched the first regulated TradFi perpetual contracts settled in stablecoin.”

The crypto exchange launched its stock tokens in April 2021, starting with Tesla and moving on to Coinbase and other technology and crypto companies, including MicroStrategy, Apple and Microsoft. However, the offerings drew scrutiny from German financial regulators. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority also ordered Binance to halt “regulated activity” in the country in June 2021.

In December, a change to Binance’s application programming interface signaled that the platform was laying the groundwork for potential stock trading features, though the exchange did not confirm this move at the time. US-based crypto exchange Coinbase is also reportedly exploring adding tokenized stocks. 

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US market structure bill to address tokenized equities?

The US Senate Agriculture Committee and Senate Banking Committee are both considering legislation to establish digital asset market structure in the country. Although the agriculture committee is scheduled to hold a markup on its version of the bill on Tuesday, the banking committee’s markup has been postponed indefinitely after Coinbase pulled its support.

In a social media post outlining his rejection of the market structure bill on Jan. 14, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said it would be a “de facto ban on tokenized equities” if signed into law as written.

Other interest groups, including banking associations and lawmakers, have opposed the bill for provisions on stablecoin rewards, conflicts of interest and decentralized finance.

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