F/m Investments Applies to Tokenize ETF Shares, Aiming to Become the First Issuer to Advance ETF Tokenization

Odaily News F/m Investments, an ETF issuer with approximately $18 billion in assets under management, has filed an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for regulatory approval to tokenize its ETF shares and record them on a permissioned blockchain ledger. The product the company intends to tokenize is its U.S. Treasury 3-Month Bill ETF (TBIL, Nasdaq ticker: TBIL).

F/m Investments stated that this is the first time an institution has explicitly applied to the SEC for an exemption related to the "tokenization of shares of a registered investment company ETF." The company said that if approved, the existing TBIL ETF shares will be represented on-chain on a permissioned ledger with the same CUSIP number, maintaining consistency with existing ETF shares in terms of rights, fees, voting rights, and economic terms, and will continue to be regulated under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

The company also emphasized that the arrangement will continue to preserve board oversight, daily information disclosure, and third-party custody and audit mechanisms. Alexander Morris, CEO of F/m Investments, stated that the trend of tokenizing traditional financial instruments is inevitable. (The Block)