According to The Block, investment bank Benchmark said in its latest research report that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposal to repeal Rule 611 and Rule 610(e) under Regulation NMS could become the “most decisive regulatory change” affecting crypto and tokenized asset market structure in 2026. The proposal was released on June 11 and seeks to remove U.S. equity-market trade protection and quotation constraints that have been in place for nearly 20 years.
The SEC targets long-standing trade and quote rules
The SEC said the proposal is intended to reduce trading costs while giving market competition and technological innovation more room to develop. Regulation NMS has long shaped how trades are executed in the U.S. stock market. Rule 611, known as the order protection rule, requires trades to follow the National Best Bid and Offer, or NBBO. Rule 610(e) restricts locked and crossed quotations.
Benchmark said these mechanisms have worked within traditional matching systems, but they create structural constraints for automated market maker, or AMM, models used in decentralized finance. Unlike a conventional order-book structure, an AMM relies on on-chain liquidity pools and algorithmic pricing. Under the existing rule framework, such trading systems face compliance barriers when trying to connect with the U.S. capital market system.
Tokenized equities and on-chain trading systems
The report said that if the relevant rules are repealed, compliance barriers for tokenized stocks and on-chain trading systems would be significantly lowered. That would make AMM-based trading models easier to integrate into the U.S. capital market structure. Among the beneficiaries discussed in the report, Benchmark highlighted Securitize, describing it as the most direct beneficiary because of its role as a tokenized securities infrastructure provider.
Benchmark also said Coinbase and Galaxy Digital would benefit from expansion in trading, market-making and custody infrastructure. At the same time, the report stressed that the rule changes do not resolve every core issue. Remaining questions include exchange registration, custody and clearing frameworks, and the legal status of DeFi-native trading. The industry broadly expects a future “innovation exemption mechanism” to become a key supporting policy. The SEC has opened a 60-day public comment period on the proposal, and the final vote is expected to take place in early 2027.