Key takeaways
- Michael Burry cited Neal Stephenson’s 1992 novel Snow Crash in a May 19 Substack warning regarding stock plans tokenized by the SEC.
- The SEC under the Trump administration proposed an innovation exemption for crypto companies, but delayed the plan until May 22, 2026.
- Burry’s warning signals growing investor concern that tokenized stocks could expose markets to 24/7 volatility and manipulation risks.
Burry warns that tokenized SEC actions could erode human connections
Writing on his Substack channel “Cassandra Unchained” and mirroring the post on X, Big Short investor Michael Burry pointed to Neal Stephenson’s 1992 novel Snow Crash to voice his concern. The dystopian story depicts a fragmented America where corporations replace governments, citizens retreat into virtual reality, and human relationships erode under the weight of digital identity and economic sorting.
Burry directly linked this view to recent news that the SEC, under the Trump administration, was crafting a broad innovation exemption allowing crypto companies must list tokenized versions of US stocks.
“We could be heading head-on into a Snow Crash cyber-punk future, with no long-term personal relationships and no digital value embedded in each of us, directly correlated to the value provided to a society that increasingly devalues humanity,” Burry wrote.
He added a follow-up in the comments section:
“Regulators only have one job. Don’t open scary doors.”
Bloomberg reported on May 18 that the SEC’s plan would create a lighter regulatory path for blockchain-based representations of public company shares. According to the proposal, crypto Companies could potentially trade tokenized shares without direct consent from the underlying company or without full traditional regulatory oversight, thereby enabling 24-hour trading on blockchain platforms.
Critics of the proposal have expressed concerns about third-party issuance, settlement risks, price manipulation and investor protection. The plan would bring traditional stocks closer to market dynamics crypto walk.
The SEC then delayed the initiative, and a May 22 report confirmed the pause. This delay suggests internal caution or external pressure, although no official explanation accompanies the decision.
The tokenization of real-world assets, including stocks, bonds, and real estate, has sparked interest among Wall Street institutions seeking faster settlement, fractional ownership, and broader global access. The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation has explored versions of the concept. Burry sees the risk of blurring these lines with less regulated crypto infrastructure.
Burry’s concerns go beyond market mechanisms. He used Cassandra Unchained to write about the hype around artificial intelligence, the concentration of venture capital, and the markets he sees as decoupled from underlying fundamentals. He cited a figure suggesting that 87% of recent venture capital flows went into AI during a reporting period.
Media coverage of Snow Crash’s post was widespread. Several media outlets picked up on the warning, describing it as Burry sounding the alarm about the convergence of crypto and traditional finance (TradFi).
His critics, particularly in the crypto community, frequently dismiss his skepticism as reflexive pessimism. His supporters cite his appeal to the 2008 housing crisis as evidence of trend recognition ahead of market consensus.
Burry has expressed limited openness to understanding tokenization in previous articles on Substack, although his overall stance towards crypto speculation has been cautious for years. The SEC’s upcoming move regarding tokenized stocks will set a precedent for how digital asset platforms will interact with securities markets, built on decades of investor protection laws.
