Orca CLO: U.S. SEC Innovation Exemption Opens Tokenized U.S. Stock Licensed Trading for Verifiable DeFi Efficiency

According to Crypto Briefing, Orca's Chief Legal Officer Christopher Montagano stated at the Korea Blockchain Week that the innovation exemption released by the SEC on September 17 provides the conditions to verify whether DeFi blockchain tracks are more efficient than traditional infrastructure.

The exemption offers a conditional relief period of 5 years, until September 17, 2031; under this framework, tokenized securities venues and specific liquidity providers can operate tokenized U.S. stock licensed trading without registering as exchanges or brokers.

Montagano stated that the exemption is specifically designed for AMM but does not constitute a ruling on DeFi; relevant parties must still comply with sanction rules and obtain issuer consent to distinguish it from unlicensed DeFi. Orca has been involved in discussions with the SEC since 2025 and began trading tokenized stocks in November of the same year.