Wall Street Stock Records Could Move On-Chain. One Trader Punished for Deleting His

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed new transfer agent rules on Tuesday. A blockchain could become the official record of who owns a share.

The same day, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) settled with a swaps trader. He had erased messages regulators ordered him to keep. Both actions turn on what counts as an official record.

Stock Records On-Chain Depend on One Obscure Firm

Transfer agents sit behind every public company share. They keep the master securityholder file, which is the issuer's legal list of who owns what; they also route dividends and process transfers.

Washington has not rewritten those rules since the early 1980s, but Tuesday's package amends existing rules and forms, rescinds one rule, and adds several new ones. Commissioner Hester Peirce said on X (twitter) that the proposal took more than a decade.