U.S. SEC Chair: Plans to introduce an "Innovation Exemption" mechanism to support compliant on-chain trading of tokenized securities

ChainCatcher message: U.S. SEC Chair Paul Atkins delivered a one-year inauguration speech at the Washington Economic Club, stating that the SEC is advancing reforms to the digital asset regulatory framework and incorporating it into the “A - C - T” strategy, namely promoting regulatory modernization, clarifying regulatory boundaries, and reshaping the rules framework.

Regarding crypto assets, the SEC has issued a crypto token classification system, dividing digital assets into 5 categories, of which 4 categories are not securities. It said that the SEC will soon roll out an “Innovation Exemption” mechanism, providing a limited framework for market participants to conduct tokenized securities transactions on-chain in a compliant manner, and that it has launched Project Crypto to help securities rules and the regulatory system adapt to the on-chain trend in capital markets.

In addition, last month the SEC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the CFTC to unify key definitions, clarify regulatory jurisdictions, and coordinate joint regulatory matters including digital assets. Paul Atkins also said that the U.S.’ previous approach to regulating crypto assets had caused innovation activities to flow overseas.