F/m Investments seeks SEC permission to tokenize ETF shares

F/m Investments, which oversees $18 billion in client assets, has filed with the SEC seeking permission to tokenize its flagship US Treasury 3 Month Bill ETF (TBIL) on a permissioned blockchain ledger.

With this move, the firm aims to enhance operational efficiency and recordkeeping while fully preserving the ETF’s traditional trading, arbitrage, and regulatory framework.

The tokenized ETF Shares are also expected to enable modern digital interfaces and support automated allocation features, helping the fund adapt safely to emerging tokenized securities markets.

Under the proposal, tokenized shares would be created and redeemed one-for-one with regular ETF shares, maintaining the same ownership, voting, and economic rights. Secondary-market trading would continue exclusively through registered broker-dealers on national exchanges or alternative trading systems.

The blockchain would function solely as a controlled recordkeeping and settlement layer, with transfers being restricted to authorized activities.

Alexander Morris, CEO of F/m Investments, said the company aims to create a regulated pathway for tokenization, a fast-emerging digital theme increasingly adopted by major institutions developing tokenized investment products and blockchain trading platforms.

“The question is whether it happens inside the regulatory framework investors have relied on for 85 years, or without that set of protections for investors,” Morris said. “We’d rather build an on-ramp that marries technological innovation and investor protection than watch from the sidelines.”