Crypto rules clarified by SEC, while senator signals progress on market structure bill
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Federal financial regulators Tuesday officially announced a new treatment of crypto assets, aiming to provide a clearer understanding of the rules for digital assets.
Why it matters: The more industry-friendly rules from the Trump-era Securities and Exchange Commission aren't a surprise, but they're a win for the crypto industry as key market structure legislation remains stalled in the Senate.
Driving the news: The SEC issued a new official interpretation for how existing securities laws apply to crypto assets, and for how it will handle jurisdictional crossover with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
- Namely, the SEC's interpretation is that most crypto assets are not themselves securities.
- And that's a major departure from the Biden-era SEC, which spent years peppering the industry with enforcement actions, alleging violations to existing laws that crypto companies argued didn't apply to them.
What they're saying: "This is what regulatory agencies are supposed to do: Draw clear lines in clear terms," SEC chair Paul Atkins said in a statement.
- "This effort serves as an important bridge for entrepreneurs and investors as Congress works to advance bipartisan market structure legislation."
State of play: That effort to create new laws for a crypto regulatory framework remains stalled in the Senate Banking Committee.
- The so-called market structure bill, known as the Clarity Act, is currently held up by a battle between the banking industry and the crypto industry over how to treat stablecoin rewards.
- The latest: Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), head of the crypto subcommittee within Senate Banking, said Wednesday that she expects the bill to advance out of the committee by late April.
Zoom out: The CFTC, which has long expected to take on a larger role in regulating crypto after a market structure law, joined the SEC's new interpretation Tuesday.
- "Today's joint agency action reflects a shared commitment to developing workable, harmonized regulations for the new frontier of finance," CFTC chair Michael Selig said.
