Barry Silbert, founder of Digital Currency Group, is claiming vindication after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed sweeping changes to accredited investor rules, arguing the move matches the tokenization thesis he first laid out in a 2011 Wall Street Journal interview.
Under the new SEC proposal, retail investors would no longer be forced to meet the current $1 million net-worth threshold, excluding their primary residence, or the $200,000 annual income standard to access private funding rounds. Instead, a publicly available financial knowledge exam would be administered under FINRA oversight. Holders of professional credentials such as CFA and CPA would receive automatic accreditation.
Silbert, then running the secondary market platform SecondMarket, called the old wealth-based criteria 'absurd,' insisting that many wealthy individuals lacked investment knowledge while financially literate professionals were excluded. 'Looking at tokenization and the move toward 24/7 trading today, I think I nailed that one too,' Silbert wrote on X on October 5, 2026.
He also pointed to his second 2011 prediction: that the strict distinction between public and private companies would fade into a single digital market where companies trade under different rules. By October 2026, the migration of private company shares and fund interests onto blockchain rails has accelerated secondary liquidity, while decentralized platforms operate continuously without dependence on traditional exchange sessions.
The SEC proposal still requires a sixty-day public comment period before a final vote in Washington.
