Those models would need to change if providers want to use the SEC’s new U.S. pathway.

Robinhood’s crypto head, Johann Kerbrat, nevertheless welcomed the agency’s move.

“The SEC innovation exemption is a signal that tokenization is ready to come to the United States,” Kerbrat said. “This is a major step by the agency and will allow liquid tokenized securities markets to develop onshore.”

Robinhood’s shares are up about 2.8% on Thursday.

A regulated lane for DeFi

The other potentially significant opening is for regulated DeFi trading platforms.

Under the exemption, tokenized securities venues can use automated market makers, or AMMs, to trade tokenized U.S. stocks without registering as traditional securities exchanges. Meanwhile, centralized crypto exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken might be outside of the SEC’s framework. Coinbase shares rose about 5% on Thursday. Kraken is a private company.

The move could bring more activity to the blockchains and decentralized trading applications underneath those markets, said Zach Pandl, head of research at Grayscale.

“The innovation exemption will bring more utility of tokenized assets, benefiting users, leading public blockchains, including Ethereum , Solana (SOL), and BNB Chain , and decentralized trading applications such as Uniswap (UNI), Aerodrome (AERO), and Raydium ,” Pandl said.

Avalanche Treasury Co. CEO Bart Smith has warned that AI agents could strain Layer 1 block space as automated financial activity moves onchain and traditional markets adopt longer trading hours.

AI agents could test available block space

The Block reported from the New York Avalanche Summit that Smith expects autonomous agents to generate financial transactions on blockchains if their adoption reaches even the lower end of current market estimates.

AI agents can act on instructions, interact with software and complete tasks with limited human involvement. Applied to finance, such systems could place trades, move funds, settle payments or manage positions, with each onchain action competing for network capacity.

Smith argued that the resulting transaction load would challenge the common view that block space remains abundant. Existing networks can currently handle enough activity that many users do not need to consider how one Layer 1 processes transactions differently from another.

“As long as AI agent activities reach the lower end of market expectations, relevant activities will occur on the blockchain,” Smith said. “There is not enough block space, and block space is no longer infinite.”

Under Smith’s forecast, automated activity would not merely add more human users to blockchains. Software agents could operate continuously and make repeated transactions without following the working hours, sleep schedules, or manual approval processes that limit human activity.

Smith did not provide a transaction estimate or a date when demand could exceed available capacity. His claim rests on AI agents gaining enough use in financial markets to create sustained onchain activity rather than occasional tests.

L1 differences may become harder to ignore

As transaction demand rises, Smith expects users and financial firms to pay closer attention to differences among Avalanche, Solana and Ethereum. Network design affects transaction speed, fees, finality, privacy options and the ability to create systems for specific business needs.

“Theoretically, there are many subtle differences between these L1s,” Smith said, adding that users can overlook many of them while capacity remains readily available. Under heavier demand, he said, “these differences will become important.”

Smith identified privacy and security as areas where he believes Avalanche is suited to business applications. The view aligns with the network’s use of separate Layer 1 environments, which organizations can configure for specific operational and compliance needs.

Recent deployments provide examples of the business activity Smith described. On Sep. 14, Avalanche was selected as the underlying blockchain for the UAEPASS Digital Vault, a document service within the United Arab Emirates’ national identity platform.

UAEPASS serves 12.5 million users and connects them with more than 15,000 services offered by over 350 public and private organizations. Deca4 and Ava Labs said the vault would use cryptographic records to verify that documents had not been altered without putting their personal contents directly onchain.

Such a design separates document verification from the sensitive data contained in the file. The UAE’s Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority oversees the service, Deca4 is handling local implementation, and Ava Labs is supplying Avalanche infrastructure and technical support.

Avalanche has also attracted financial firms working with tokenized assets. In September, Hanwha Investment & Securities completed a tokenized securities platform supporting Avalanche ahead of South Korea’s planned regulated security-token market.

According to Seoul Economic Daily, the platform is designed to manage issuance and distribution processes for tokenized securities. South Korea’s framework is scheduled to take effect in February 2027, giving financial firms a regulated route to represent qualifying securities on blockchain systems.

Round-the-clock markets would require new infrastructure

Smith also expects traditional financial markets to move toward continuous weekday trading. By mid-2027, he said, markets could operate 24 hours a day for five days each week, extending access far beyond the sessions followed by most stock exchanges.

Existing financial systems would struggle to support that schedule, according to Smith, because much of the infrastructure depends on set operating hours and processes that were not designed for nonstop trading and settlement.

“New infrastructure must be created,” Smith said, adding that it would not be built using the old model “but rather built on the blockchain.”

Longer trading hours could require clearing, settlement, collateral management and risk systems to operate throughout the day. In Smith’s scenario, AI agents would add another layer of activity by making automated decisions while markets remain open across different time zones.

Avalanche’s recent institutional activity has already extended beyond test transactions. In July, the network’s distributed tokenized real-world asset value reached $2.1 billion after rising 60.47% over 30 days, according to RWA.xyz data cited in a crypto.news report on its $11 billion tokenization deal with Bridgetower.

Bridgetower said it had placed more than $11 billion in production-linked assets on Avalanche using Chainlink infrastructure. The portfolio included the Arizona Copper-Gold project, while BlackRock’s BUIDL tokenized U.S. Treasury fund had passed $900 million on Avalanche at the time.

Franklin Templeton and VanEck have also used or announced plans involving Avalanche-based products. Smith’s forecast, however, concerns a later stage in which automated systems and continuously operating markets produce recurring transaction demand rather than isolated institutional deployments.

Nasdaq listing gives U.S. investors Avalanche exposure

Smith leads Avalanche Treasury Co., a U.S.-listed company that began trading on Nasdaq under the AVAT ticker in June. The listing gives American investors a way to gain exposure to the Avalanche ecosystem without directly holding AVAX.

The company reached the public market through a merger with Mountain Lake Acquisition Corp., a special-purpose acquisition company, in a transaction valued at about $675 million. At its Nasdaq debut, Avalanche Treasury held roughly 15 million AVAX, equal to about 3.5% of the token’s circulating supply at the time.

AVAT closed 38.13% lower at $1.85 in its first trading session after opening at $2.99. Trading volume reached about 497,580 shares, while the company’s market value stood near $486.37 million.

Smith said at the time that Avalanche Treasury planned to deploy capital across the network rather than operate only as a passive token holder. “It is not a bet on price,” he said, describing the business as an ecosystem investment vehicle.

The company’s structure still leaves its financial position exposed to AVAX price movements because of its token holdings. Its board and advisory group includes Ava Labs founder Emin Gün Sirer and Aave founder Stani Kulechov, while its backers include Dragonfly, ParaFi Capital, VanEck, Galaxy Digital, Pantera Capital, CoinFund, Kraken, FalconX and Borderless.

Before leading Avalanche Treasury, Smith worked at Susquehanna for nearly 14 years and held roles tied to institutional trading and digital assets. His comments at the summit connect that market background with a forecast in which continuous trading, automated financial agents, and blockchain settlement increase demand for Layer 1 capacity.

StablecoinX has secured a permanent waiver ending the 48-month lock-up on its ENA holdings from Oct. 5, 2026, while leaving separate controls on token sales in place.

StablecoinX ENA restrictions will end on Oct. 5

StablecoinX said in a Sep. 17 X post that it had filed a Form 8-K detailing a waiver signed with Ethena OpCo and the Ethena Foundation.

Under the SEC filing, the parties signed the waiver letter on Sep. 14, with the changes scheduled to take effect on Oct. 5.

The agreement permanently removes all lock-up, vesting, and unlocking restrictions on ENA held by, or due to be delivered to, StablecoinX and its subsidiaries. Covered tokens include ENA that the company acquired through private investment in public equity agreements linked to its business combination with TLGY Acquisition Corp.

A 48-month contractual lock-up and its installment-based release schedule had previously applied to tokens purchased under those agreements. Once the waiver takes effect, the released restrictions cannot return, according to the waiver letter.

The document states that Ethena OpCo and the foundation will “waive, release and terminate each and every Lock-Up applicable to the Subject Tokens.”

ENA obtained through staking or a protocol-wide distribution mechanism will also fall under the waiver when covered by the earlier token purchase agreements. Oct. 5 matches the date that the Ethena Foundation previously announced for the release of locked tokens held by other ENA holders.

ENA sales still require Ethena Foundation consent

Removing the lock-up does not give StablecoinX unrestricted control over how it uses the ENA.

According to the waiver letter, StablecoinX must continue holding the tokens as permanent, unencumbered treasury assets unless it receives prior written consent from the Ethena Foundation or completes a sale under the new funding framework.

The requirement covers sales and transfers as well as lending, hedging, pledging, collateralization and other forms of encumbrance. Separate approvals may also be required from StablecoinX’s board, investment committee or holders of its Class B shares.

Legal and regulatory limits remain unaffected. The agreement specifically preserves restrictions arising under the U.S. Securities Act, Rule 144, affiliate status and any applicable registration or listing requirement.

For U.S. investors, the disclosure is material because StablecoinX trades on Nasdaq under the symbol USDE, while its public warrants trade as USDEW. Its shares give stock-market investors indirect exposure to Ethena’s governance token without requiring them to buy or hold ENA directly.

StablecoinX filed the agreement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under Item 1.01, which covers entry into a material definitive agreement. Chief Financial Officer Young Cho signed the Form 8-K on Sep. 17.

Funding sales must follow a five-day review

Alongside the permanent unlock, the parties created a process through which StablecoinX may sell ENA to meet working capital or strategic needs tied to activities supporting the Ethena ecosystem.

A proposed funding sale requires StablecoinX to send the foundation written notice at least five business days before the planned transaction. The notice must explain how the proceeds will be used, identify the maximum number of tokens involved, and state the minimum acceptable price.

StablecoinX must also disclose how it plans to execute the sale, including whether it will use an exchange, an over-the-counter transaction, a market maker, or an agency arrangement. Any firm third-party offer must appear in the notice.

During the five-day review, the Ethena Foundation may elect to buy all or part of the proposed ENA allocation at the stated price. Settlement may occur in U.S. dollars, USDC, USDe or USDtb, depending on the terms agreed by the parties.

If the foundation neither responds nor exercises its purchase right within the review period, StablecoinX may proceed with a qualifying funding sale. Cleared transactions must be completed within 60 days, after which the company must issue another notice.

The agreement requires StablecoinX to conduct each sale in an orderly manner and use commercially reasonable efforts to limit disruption to the ENA market. Possible methods include spreading sales over time or using over-the-counter and agency arrangements.

Ethena Foundation may request further discussions if it reasonably determines that a proposed transaction is unrelated to an approved activity, could disrupt an orderly ENA market, or may breach a law or existing agreement. Such discussions can last no more than another five business days.

Eligible uses include general working capital, strategic investments, corporate acquisitions, and software development beyond StablecoinX Harness and its decentralized verifier node operations. The framework also covers share repurchases conducted under an approved Rule 10b5-1 plan, provided the foundation has received and approved the plan and the company has met its disclosure duties.

StablecoinX holds about 20% of ENA supply

StablecoinX’s treasury contained approximately 3 billion ENA at the end of the second quarter, equal to about 20% of the token’s total supply, crypto.news reported in August.

Using ENA’s June 30 closing price of $0.07204, the company valued the position at $218.4 million, or about $9.09 for each of its 24,029,375 Class A shares then outstanding. StablecoinX recorded $212.9 million in digital intangible assets after accounting for impairment.

The company’s treasury strategy began with a $360 million ENA plan announced in July 2025. The financing included $60 million in tokens from the Ethena Foundation and $260 million in cash intended for ENA purchases.

Following its Nasdaq trading debut in June 2026, StablecoinX reported that it held approximately 3.029 billion ENA, valued at $275 million using the 30-day volume-weighted average price applied before the transaction closed.

Beyond its token holdings, StablecoinX operates a decentralized verifier node that processes cross-chain messages for Ethena products. As of Aug. 12, the company said the node had verified more than 10,000 messages representing over $3 billion in cumulative cross-chain volume.

Shark Tank host and veteran investor Kevin O’Leary said he’s convinced the Clarity Act will eventually advance in the Senate and could return as soon as the first quarter of next year.

Speaking at the Avalanche Summit in New York on Thursday, O’Leary said he didn’t expect the bill to advance on Tuesday, when it received 49 of the 60 Senate votes needed to proceed.

“The chances of Clarity passing, in my view, were zero, and that’s what happened,” O’Leary said.

The legislation sought to establish a broader federal framework for crypto markets, including the roles of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

But O’Leary sees the failed vote as a delay rather than the end of the bill. He pointed to a separate crypto tax bill that advanced in the House this week as one reason he believes lawmakers will ultimately have to return to the issue of market structure.

The House Ways and Means Committee advanced the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act, which seeks to establish tax rules for areas including staking, mining, small crypto transactions and broker requirements.