🔥US SEC Chairman: US Markets Will Be Fully On-Chain Within Two Years

— A Panoramic Analysis of the Current State, Trends, and Future Outlook
Recently, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated in a live interview with Fox News:
US markets are expected to be fully on-chain within two years.
This statement is more aggressive than previous industry expectations and signifies that the US capital market is undergoing its most profound structural transformation since the advent of the internet. Whether it’s traditional institutions, financial infrastructure, regulatory systems, or the crypto industry itself, all may experience a “technology-driven foundational shift” in the next two years.
This article explores the topic from three dimensions:
① The current state; ② Key trends driving on-chain adoption; ③ The future outlook two years from now.
🚀I. Current State: On-Chain Adoption Has Moved from Edge Experimentation to the Core Financial System
Although “fully on-chain” sounds like a future vision, the US capital market has already laid the foundation across several key areas:
1. Traditional Institutions Are Deeply Involved
Top Wall Street institutions such as BlackRock, Fidelity, JPMorgan, and Goldman Sachs have all deployed on-chain asset strategies.
BlackRock’s BUIDL has become the fastest-growing on-chain fund in history, with assets under management exceeding several billion dollars, proving that institutional capital has embraced on-chain settlement.
2. Regulatory Frameworks Are Gradually Clarifying
Regulatory agencies including the SEC, CFTC, FinCEN, and OCC are shifting from “blocking innovation” to “regulating development.”
The US Treasury has made stablecoin regulation a core issue.
Dozens of states have passed laws allowing on-chain securities registration or settlement.
In other words, US regulators aren’t trying to stop on-chain adoption, but to control it.
3. Some On-Chain Infrastructure Has Been Implemented in the Securities Market
**DTCC (Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation)** has completed several on-chain settlement pilots.
Exchanges such as Nasdaq, CBOE, and ICE are developing internal on-chain settlement systems.
Multiple Treasury bonds, money market funds, and corporate bonds have begun on-chain settlement tests.
On-chain adoption is no longer just a “wish of the crypto industry,” but the inevitable path for modernizing US capital markets.
🚀II. Key Trends Driving On-Chain Adoption: Three Forces Accelerating the US Financial System’s “Chain Transformation”
The “two-year” timetable given by the SEC Chairman is not a casual remark, but is based on the resonance of the following three major trends:
Trend 1: The Efficiency Revolution of On-Chain Settlement and Clearing Is Unstoppable
Pain points in traditional markets have become obvious:
US stocks still have T+1 settlement and systemic risk;
Bond market clearing is complex and extremely costly;
Reconciliation between financial institutions is lengthy and error-prone.
The advantages of on-chain are clear:
Native real-time settlement (T+0)
Simultaneous delivery of funds and assets (atomic settlement)
Transparency enhances systemic risk monitoring
Wall Street is not pursuing “on-chain” for its own sake, but to reduce costs, lower risks, and increase efficiency.
On-chain just happens to be the solution.
Trend 2: Stablecoins Have Become the Dollar’s “Infrastructure” Globally
Stablecoins (especially USDT / USDC / PYUSD) have become key tools for the US in global financial competition:
Global stablecoin daily transaction volume has reached the $100 billion level
Payment giants like Visa, PayPal, and Stripe have fully integrated on-chain settlement
US banks and cross-border clearing houses are also testing on-chain dollar settlement
As the core functions of the dollar shift on-chain, it’s only natural that US financial markets will follow.
Trend 3: Tokenization Has Entered an Exponential Growth Phase
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink considers asset tokenization “the next trillion-dollar opportunity in financial markets.”
Assets already tokenized include:
US Treasury bonds
Money market funds
Real estate bonds
Corporate bonds
Even gold and credit products
Institutions have seen the trend clearly:
In the future, every asset will be an “on-chain token” rather than a PDF file.
Before all assets are fully digitized, market infrastructure must first go on-chain.
🚀III. The Next Two Years: What Will “Fully On-Chain” US Markets Look Like?
Based on the SEC’s official view, the US market in two years may look like this—
1. 90% of Securities Will Be Registered and Settled On-Chain
This doesn’t mean all stocks will trade on public blockchains, but rather:
Securities registration on-chain
Settlement on-chain
Trading still within mature exchange systems
In other words, the market’s underlying infrastructure will be on-chain.
This will greatly reduce systemic risks like the “Lehman crisis.”
2. Treasuries, Funds, ABS, and Other Products Will Be “Default On-Chain” for Issuance
On-chain Treasury fund scale now exceeds $10 billion; in the future, it may become:
The US Treasury directly issuing on-chain Treasuries
All money market funds on-chain
ABS, MBS, and commercial paper fully digitized
On-chain will become the new technical foundation for the US debt system.
3. US Stocks May Achieve T+0 On-Chain, Benefiting Both Retail and Institutions
Two major issues the SEC has long wanted to address:
Trading transparency
Settlement risk
On-chain offers the most efficient solution in history.
In the future, retail US stock purchases could clear in seconds.
4. The Crypto Industry Will Usher in the “Third Bull Market of the Compliance Era”
Once the US market is fully on-chain, it means
Crypto assets are no longer marginal assets
Institutional capital can operate on-chain assets as “normal business”
Full integration of Web3 and traditional finance
Tokenized asset market value will reach tens of trillions of dollars
This is not just “the next bull market”—
This is the era of financial system migration.
On-chain adoption is no longer a tech trend, but a national-level financial modernization project.
When the US market is fully on-chain, the global financial system will be forced to follow.
This will be the largest paradigm shift in global finance since the internet.