SEC Moves to Modernize Transfer-Agent Rules Amid Blockchain Fragmentation Concerns

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is updating its transfer-agent regulations in a move seen as long overdue by industry observers. Fairmint's Joris Delanoue warns that fragmented ownership data across token wrappers, special-purpose vehicles, broker ledgers, and off-chain databases poses serious systemic risks. He argues this fragmentation could trigger a modern equivalent of the 1960s 'Paperwork Crisis', when Wall Street was overwhelmed by a surge in paper-based securities records. The concern is that blockchain-era financial infrastructure, if poorly coordinated, could replicate the same operational failures that once forced U.S. stock exchanges to close early. Delanoue urges regulators and industry players to ensure unified, coherent ownership records as digital securities markets evolve.