The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially announced “Project Crypto.” It is a sweeping initiative to modernize and clarify how digital assets are regulated in the United States.
Unveiled by SEC Chair Paul Atkins during a landmark address at the America First Policy Institute, Project Crypto aims to bring clarity, innovation, and global competitiveness back to U.S. markets by transitioning them to an era of on-chain infrastructure and transparent crypto rules.
What Is Project Crypto by the SEC?
Fundamentally, Project Crypto is the most comprehensive revision to federal crypto regulation since blockchain’s inception. To distinguish between a crypto security and a commodity, the SEC will offer clear definitions. In stark contrast to earlier SEC rulings under Gary Gensler, Atkins said that “the majority of crypto assets are not securities.”
New, customized disclosure guidelines and grace periods for network tokens, airdrops, and initial coin offerings (ICOs) intend to promote innovation by allowing early-stage initiatives to develop before coming under close regulatory scrutiny.
Older intermediary regulations are seeing revisions to consider digital assets. People’s right to keep their cryptocurrency for themselves will receive recognition as a “core American value.”
For the first time, crypto exchanges, broker-dealers, and other intermediaries will be able to operate multiple services. These include security tokens, non-security tokens, staking, and lending. This is possible under a single license, bringing America in line with global innovation hubs and slashing regulatory red tape.
The SEC will facilitate the tokenization of equities, funds, and real-world assets. This is in response to burgeoning institutional interest in blockchain-based securities, which is opening doors for traditional and digital finance to merge.
“Project Crypto” proposes exemptions to allow firms to pilot new crypto products without excessive fear of enforcement. This would reduce the infamous “regulation by enforcement” climate of past years.
Next Steps
A new SEC Crypto Task Force, led by Commissioner Hester Peirce, will roll out draft rules and host public comment periods across tech and finance hubs nationwide. Early pilots in tokenization, decentralized finance, and digital asset custody will launch over the coming months.
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