EU regulator warns: Tokenized stocks could mislead retail investors

PANews reported on September 2nd that according to Cryptoslate, Natasha Cazenave, Executive Director of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), stated that tokenized shares, as a new type of digital asset whose price is linked to the share price of a listed company, may give investors a false sense of ownership, thereby undermining market confidence. Cazenave warned that many tokenized share products currently promoted in the EU do not grant investors actual shareholder rights, such as voting rights or dividend rights. She stated that due to the lack of transparency in the presentation of these assets, retail investors may mistakenly believe that they own company shares when in fact they do not.

Cazenave emphasized that while tokenization offers advantages such as fractional share trading and 24/7 market access, the lack of ownership rights presents "specific risks of investor misconception." Proponents argue that tokenization can modernize finance by reducing costs and broadening access to assets ranging from stocks and bonds to real estate. While Cazenave acknowledges this potential, she notes that most existing projects are limited in scale and liquidity, falling far short of achieving the efficiency gains touted by proponents.