SEC approves the creation of the Long-Term Stock Exchange, or LTSE, a Silicon Valley-based national securities exchange proposed by Eric Ries
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. regulators on Friday approved a new stock exchange that is the brainchild of a Silicon Valley entrepreneur …
Context & Ripple Effects
Eric Ries first pitched the Long-Term Stock Exchange in 2017, when top Silicon Valley figures backed its tenure-voting design that grants shares more voting power the longer investors hold them. The SEC's approval converts that pitch into a legally chartered national securities exchange — the regulatory gate every challenger venue must pass before it can list a single company.
First-order effects
- LTSE can now operate as a national securities exchange and begin recruiting issuers to its long-term listing standards, moving Ries' project from proposal to regulated venue.
Second-order effects
- Approval unlocked institutional money: months later LTSE raised a $50M Series B led by Founders Fund with a16z and Initialized Capital participating ($50M Series B), giving the challenger runway to build listings against NYSE and Nasdaq.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, exchange competition shifts from pure liquidity toward differentiated listing rules — later evidenced by Twilio and Asana becoming LTSE's first listed companies (Twilio and Asana's listings) and by new entrants like 24 Exchange seeking their own SEC charters.
The trend: US market structure is opening to rule-differentiated challenger exchanges, with SEC charter approvals — not trading volume — as the entry ticket.