Cryptocurrency regulation makes a major shift! The U.S. SEC launches the "ACT Strategy" to embrace crypto innovation

U.S. SEC Chair Paul Atkins launched the “ACT” strategy on the one-year anniversary of his inauguration, with accountability, clarity, and technology transparency at its core—replacing the prior enforcement-led regulatory approach.

ACT strategy reshapes the regulatory framework

One year into his tenure as Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paul Atkins—the regulator the industry has high hopes for—has officially rolled out a strategy blueprint called “ACT,” symbolizing a fundamental shift in Washington’s stance toward digital assets. ACT stands for:

• Accountability
• Clarity
• Technology / Transparency

The strategy sets its core goal as rule of law, replacing the “regulation through enforcement” model in recent years that has left the industry on edge. In numerous public speeches, Atkins has emphasized that the SEC’s responsibility is to establish a fair and transparent competitive environment, and that it should not stifle technological progress through endless litigation. Over the past 12 months, the SEC has significantly reduced arbitrary lawsuits targeting crypto startups, and instead devoted resources to developing more forward-looking rules.

Under the latest policy direction, the SEC will focus on building a modern framework capable of distinguishing between securities and non-securities assets. Atkins noted that regulators must be accountable to Congress and the public. The prior approach—using unclear standards and relying on case-by-case precedents to define market conduct—has seriously undermined the financial competitiveness of the United States.

Through the ACT strategy, the SEC is rebuilding trust with innovators, ensuring that legal enforcement is legitimate. This shift moves the legal focus from punishing the past to guiding the future. The reforms championed by Atkins have greatly increased industry advisory involvement, allowing developers and legal experts to offer practical insights during the rulemaking stage. This collaborative style of regulation is sharply different from the hardline and closed approach of former Chair Gary Gensler. Market observers believe that the launch of this strategy has provided the most stable policy environment for the U.S. crypto industry since Bitcoin ($BTC) was created in 2009, effectively attracting more than $150 billion in institutional capital to reassess the long-term value of the U.S. market.

Focusing on stablecoins and prediction markets, establishing forward-looking regulatory red lines

Even as Atkins has shown a more inclusive posture, the SEC remains highly vigilant about industries involving systemic risk or speculative controversy. Prediction Markets have become the focus of regulatory review in 2026. As trading volume on decentralized prediction platforms has surged to over 5 billion over the past year, the SEC has begun examining whether these platforms involve unregistered securities or the trading of derivative financial products.

Under Atkins’ leadership, the Commission is working closely with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to clarify the legal status of these platforms, to prevent retail investors from suffering losses due to regulatory gaps. On the issue of Stablecoins, the SEC’s stance has changed significantly. Atkins tends to treat fiat-collateralized stablecoins as payment tools, which provides issuers with the necessary legal buffer space.

• Related news: Regulation is no longer fragmented! SEC and CFTC join forces to advance Project Crypto and jointly establish an asset classification framework

The current regulatory direction is shifting in coordination with the U.S. Department of the Treasury to promote a set of strict standards for reserve transparency. The SEC requires issuers to publish, every quarter, detailed asset information audited by third parties, ensuring that every token circulating in the market has 100% backing by real-world assets. This approach strikes a balance between safeguarding financial stability and promoting payment innovation, and also strengthens the position of dollar stablecoins in the digital economy. The review mechanism for prediction markets also reflects the “technology transparency” side of Atkins’ regulatory philosophy.

SEC has instead required operating teams to provide a higher level of smart contract audit reports and anti-manipulation proof. Atkins believes that technology itself can address blind spots that traditional law has difficulty reaching.

Using on-chain data from the blockchain, regulators can track more precisely whether insider trading or wash trading exists. This precise crackdown on wrongdoing while also protecting legitimate innovation has earned positive recognition from both Silicon Valley and Wall Street, and it also shows that the SEC is learning how to coexist with decentralized protocols.

Internal administrative efficiency reform, replacing litigation lawyers with technology experts

In addition to the shift in external policy, Atkins’ reforms within the SEC are also sweeping and bold. During his first year in office, he reorganized personnel across multiple key departments, especially the Division of Corporation Finance and the Division of Enforcement. Atkins brought in a large number of technology experts with blockchain development experience into the Commission, replacing some legal staff who previously had only litigation backgrounds.

This adjustment in the talent structure has increased the SEC’s efficiency when processing crypto registration applications by 40%. Compliance review processes that previously often took two years are now shortened to 6 to 9 months. Atkins’ changes to the internal performance evaluation mechanism have also fundamentally altered the SEC’s culture.

In the past, the enforcement department’s achievements were often linked to the amount of fines and the number of lawsuits; now Atkins has introduced “compliance achievement rate” as the new evaluation standard. He encourages employees and companies to engage in early dialogue, resolving potential legal disputes by issuing “No-Action Letters” instead of directly bringing public prosecution. This shift reduces the government’s expenditure of public funds on litigation, saves more than 250 million in legal litigation budget projections, and reallocates these resources to technology monitoring and data analytics for the industry.

Improving administrative efficiency is crucial for small and medium-sized enterprises operating compliantly in the United States. In the past, high legal compliance costs meant only large financial institutions could afford SEC reviews, which in effect suppressed innovation. The “Simplified Compliance Program” promoted by Atkins allows small teams with funding of under 10 million to receive a two-year regulatory sandbox testing period under specific conditions. This initiative turns Washington from an obstacle to digital assets into a promoter, successfully retaining many high-quality projects that were originally planning to move overseas.

2026 U.S. market expansion blueprint—returning to the global competition center?

Atkins’ ACT strategy not only changes regulatory dynamics inside the United States, but also triggers ripple effects globally. As U.S. regulatory pathways become clearer, financial centers such as the European Union, Singapore, and Hong Kong have all adjusted their policies, trying to compete with the United States on the global track of digital finance. The crypto market in 2026 has entered a new stage driven by compliance, as major asset management firms rush to launch tokenized asset products based on blockchain (RWA).

The SEC’s policy shift provides legal backing for these financial products, leading to a 3x growth in the trading volume of tokenized U.S. Treasuries, real estate, and corporate bonds within one year. Market satisfaction with Atkins’ performance in his first year is reflected in the data. U.S. crypto spot trading volume has risen from 18% of global market share a year earlier to 32%, showing a return of capital confidence in the U.S. legal environment.

In an interview with CNBC, Atkins said the United States needs to leverage its advantages in rule of law and depth in capital markets. He expects that in the coming year, the SEC will further relax compliance thresholds for decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols under specific frameworks, making code become part of the regulations.

The regulatory changes initiated by Atkins effectively redefine the government’s role in the digital era. Regulatory bodies are becoming partners that evolve together with the industry. Although challenges will still arise in the future—such as defining prediction markets, regulating privacy tokens, and coordinating cross-border enforcement—Atkins provides the market with a set of game rules that are logically self-consistent and respect technological logic.

As 2026 moves into the second half, global investors are closely watching how this ACT strategy will be further concretized. This major shift affects not only the prices of cryptocurrencies, but also, more profoundly, reshapes the underlying operating foundation of the global financial system.