The biggest issue is that an ordinary person can't log into the NASDAQ (for example) to buy and sell shares directly, yet anyone can purchase or sell tokens.
With a strong Proof of Stake (like Cadano proposes with Oroboros for example) a token could represent an exchangeable stake in a company that could behave similarly to stock.
I'm not against regulation, but I think decentralization helps to more equitably distribute power.
For sure, and I'm 100% with you when it comes to opening stuff up to more people. I just want to avoid scenarios where things are too open and easy and we get a ton of pump and dump ICOs clogging up the market rather than real companies.
Purchasing stock in the traditional sense isn't that difficult once you're in, but it's a pain to setup, takes weeks sometimes to get an approved account with a brokerage, and more days to clear funding etc.
Honestly, I see huge opportunity in helping streamline the brokerages/exchanges themselves rather than the companies. Make it easier for people to trade stocks, while still keeping safeguards in place to protect investors.
With today's technology there really should be no reason we shouldn't be able to buy and sell stock at "book" directly through an exchange, except that it could end up having the volatility of the crypto market (which would be bad for the firms and the rich).
Instead of brokers, we should have regulated exchanges and anyone should have access to the exchange. If "XYZ corp" is trading at $1, I should be able to buy a share for $1.02 (assuming a fair transaction fee) the same way I just bought 499.8 ADA for about $15US the other day. Conversely I should be able to sell my shares at book through the same exchange.