Ondo Finance has formally requested the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve a model for recording securities entitlements as tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. The company filed a no-action request, asking the SEC to confirm that staff will not recommend enforcement action if it proceeds with this specific operational model for its Ondo Global Markets (OGM) platform.
The proposed model is framed as an operational "overlay" on top of the existing U.S. broker-dealer custody system. Ondo argues that the tokens would not change who holds the underlying securities entitlements or alter existing investor protections. Instead, the blockchain tokens would be used for "collateral monitoring, redemptions and reconciliation," effectively turning Ethereum into a recordkeeping and settlement rail that coexists with traditional systems like the Depository Trust Company (DTC).
This filing follows a significant regulatory shift for Ondo. In December 2025, the SEC quietly closed a confidential, two-year investigation into Ondo's tokenized U.S. Treasuries and its ONDO token without bringing any charges. The company has described this closure as a de facto validation of its approach to U.S. securities law.
OGM already offers tokenized notes and securities backed 1:1 by U.S. stocks, ETFs, and Treasuries held at licensed broker-dealers. The platform has expanded to Ethereum, Solana, and BNB Chain. According to a February update from the firm, total value locked (TVL) across Ondo's tokenized products exceeds $500 million, with cumulative trading volume around $9 billion. More than 200 tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs are available on Solana alone.
A favorable response from the SEC could set a major precedent, signaling U.S. regulatory tolerance for permissionless-chain settlement of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) like stocks, ETFs, and bonds. It would align the U.S. more closely with similar experiments in Europe and Asia and could unlock a path to fully registered, on-chain securities distribution on public networks like Ethereum.
