Global: Fairmint Urges SEC to Adopt Blockchain Framework for Modernizing Private Markets

Blockchain infrastructure firm Fairmint has submitted a comprehensive proposal to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), advocating for the modernization of private securities markets through decentralized technologies. The proposal, delivered to SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce and Chairman Paul Atkins, outlines a seven-step regulatory framework aimed at addressing structural inefficiencies and outdated compliance processes within private equity administration.

At the core of Fairmint’s proposal is a call for real-time regulatory oversight via blockchain, enabling greater transparency, interoperability, and investor protections. The firm also recommends updating the accredited investor definition by shifting from traditional income and net worth thresholds to a knowledge-based standard—a move that could broaden market participation while maintaining safeguards.

“Private companies are managing billion-dollar cap tables in Excel, while public markets benefit from robust, regulated infrastructure,” said Joris Delanoue, CEO of Fairmint. “This disparity creates compliance blind spots, introduces friction, and hampers U.S. capital formation.”

Among other key features of the proposal are:

• Enabling investor self-custody with built-in compliance mechanisms.
• Establishing standardized infrastructure for data and process interoperability among transfer agents.
• Creating a regulated DeFi sandbox for experimentation with decentralized finance models under supervisory oversight.

Bridging the Infrastructure Gap

The private equity market—valued at $5.3 trillion in 2023 and projected to exceed $6 trillion by the end of 2024, according to S&P Global—remains heavily dependent on manual systems, such as spreadsheets, for managing complex ownership structures. In contrast, public markets operate with advanced, automated infrastructure for clearing, settlement, and regulatory reporting.

Fairmint, whose clientele includes wallet infrastructure provider Privy and decentralized social platform Bloom Network, argues that blockchain technology offers the efficiency, transparency, and regulatory accountability currently lacking in private market infrastructure.

Tokenization Moves Mainstream

The SEC’s Crypto Task Force has recently intensified engagement with stakeholders around the tokenization of real-world assets and the integration of decentralized technologies within traditional finance. Recent regulatory roundtables hosted by the agency have focused on tokenized securities, smart contracts, and on-chain compliance tools.

Fairmint’s proposal dovetails with broader industry trends. Robinhood, the retail trading platform, is reportedly exploring the use of blockchain for enabling European access to tokenized U.S.-listed stocks. CEO Vladimir Tenev noted that private equity tokenization is expected to become a key pillar of the company’s future blockchain strategy.

The emergence of blockchain-native infrastructure in private markets reflects growing momentum behind digital asset convergence, signaling that the next wave of innovation in capital markets may be shaped by regulated decentralization.