PANews reported on November 27th, citing Reuters, that the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), an international non-profit organization of major global stock exchanges, stated in a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week that the regulator's proposed plan to allow crypto companies to sell "tokenized" stocks without regulation could harm investor interests. Several crypto companies plan to sell crypto tokens linked to listed stocks; however, to sell such products in the U.S., unregistered crypto companies need a no-action letter or exemption from the SEC. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated that the agency is working on developing an "innovation exemption" provision in securities law to allow crypto companies to experiment with new business models.

In its letter, the WFE pointed out that exemptions could pose risks to market integrity and weaken investor protection. WFE CEO Nandini Sukumar stated, "The SEC should avoid granting exemptions to companies attempting to circumvent regulatory principles that have protected markets for decades." The SEC published the WFE letter on its website but declined to comment. James Auliffe, head of the WFE's technical working group, stated, "We and cryptocurrency platforms should compete on a level playing field, and we should be subject to the same rules."