SEC chair says only a small portion of crypto tokens are regulated as securities

Key points:

• Paul Atkins believes that tokens are not securities and most often do not fall under this definition.
• Congress is preparing a bill on the structure of the crypto market, and in September, the Senate will return to discussing it, finalizing its own version of the document.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated that only a small portion of cryptocurrency tokens can be considered securities. He made his statement at a blockchain symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he presented the “Project Crypto” initiative (the SEC’s program to modernize securities legislation and create rules for the digital asset market).

According to him, the regulator will proceed from the assumption that a token is not a security in itself and most often does not fall under this definition. Atkins noted that it all depends on how exactly the digital asset is issued and sold.

How the SEC’s approach has changed

This position is a sharp departure from the stance of former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, who argued that the vast majority of crypto assets are securities that fall under the Howey test applied by the Securities and Exchange Commission and should therefore be regulated as securities.

Gensler left the agency in January after Donald Trump took office as US president. Prior to Atkins’ appointment, Commissioner Mark Uyeda served as acting SEC chair.

Gary Gensler will be replaced as chair of the SEC by crypto lawyer Mark Uyeda

Uyeda has been a consistent advocate of creating a clear regulatory framework for the crypto industry to foster its growth

Read more

Project Crypto should become the basis for regulating digital assets and the gradual tokenization of traditional financial instruments.

We must craft a framework that future-proofs the crypto markets against regulatory mischief. I look forward to working with my counterparts across the Administration and Congress to get the job done, Atkins wrote on his X account after his speech.

Source: x.com

Bernstein analysts called the program the “boldest and the most transformative crypto vision ever laid out by a sitting SEC chair.” Bitwise CIO Matt Hogan added that the project can be seen as a roadmap for investment over the next five years.

The SEC chairman also said he would like to restore the popularity of initial public offerings (IPOs). According to him, this procedure in the US has become too expensive and burdensome in terms of bureaucracy, and he intends to change the situation.