SEC Commissioner Peirce: Innovation Exemption Tailored for On-Chain Stock Trading, Clearly Draws Line with DeFi

Arc has announced the launch of its Arc Microgrants program, offering 20 grants of 500 USDC each (totaling 10,000 USDC) to qualified early-stage developers building functional mini-apps on Arc’s mainnet. The initiative is open to early-stage projects, prototypes, and proof-of-concept applications.

According to Coinglass data, the global open interest in ZEC futures contracts totals 2.34 million units, valued at approximately $3.35 billion, surging 29% over the past 24 hours. In the last four hours, ZEC liquidations amounted to $9.08 million, with 24-hour liquidations hitting $58.9 million. On Binance, the ZEC/USDT long-short ratio across all accounts is 0.3646, the long-short ratio for large accounts is 0.3168, and the long-short ratio for large account positions stands at 0.7663. This indicates that there are more short traders, and the relatively lower proportion of long positions is more concentrated among select large investors.

According to HTX market data, ZEC has been surging strongly, hitting a high of $1,443 with a 24-hour increase of over 15%, and is currently trading at $1,434.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins issued a video statement, stating that over a year ago, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission launched "Project Crypto"—an initiative designed to amend federal securities laws to enable U.S. capital markets to go on-chain. As Congress failed to advance the CLARITY Act this week, the SEC has opted to take action within its statutory authority.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins spoke at a 24-hour trading roundtable today, noting that U.S. capital markets are moving toward a "new day and night" paradigm. Key business and economic events are no longer confined to traditional trading hours, and investors want to adjust their positions more frequently to respond to breaking news. Extending trading hours would not only meet investor demand but also align U.S. trading platforms with overseas markets, attract more global capital, reduce risks accumulated overnight or on weekends, and boost market efficiency. Atkins stated that if registered trading platforms evolve to meet this need, investor protection, global access, and liquidity will all improve. In terms of concrete preparations, he revealed that the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has launched a 23/5 trade capture system to support clearing and settlement; the industry has adopted an overnight price range program, and the Securities Information Processor (SIP) initiative is also preparing for overnight price dissemination. He also highlighted operational challenges, such as sourcing securities to support market making when spreads may be wider. Atkins believes tokenization has the potential to help the securities industry achieve real-time inventory management, improve efficiency, reduce settlement failures, lower the risk of abusive naked short selling, and even eliminate it entirely. He also specifically called on issuers to participate in discussions, providing feedback on how 24-hour trading would impact corporate actions, material information disclosures, and EDGAR filing timelines. He emphasized that these efforts are ultimately driven by industry dynamics, competitive forces, and investor interests, and encouraged the public to submit comments.

MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor stated that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Innovation Exemption Policy allows eligible trading platforms to offer U.S. investors 24/7 tokenized on-chain transactions, which is undoubtedly a major breakthrough in the fields of digital credit and U.S. capital markets.