Major SEC Crypto Rule Coming This Month, Updated Agenda Suggests - Unchained

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing to propose a major crypto-specific rule as soon as this month, a move that would exempt a range of digital asset activities from securities requirements. An updated regulatory agenda, flagged Tuesday, lists the proposal among the agency’s near-term priorities.

The framework would establish temporary registration exemptions for developers issuing crypto investment contracts, permit a capped amount of fundraising, and set up a safe harbor for token issuers that step back from active management, according to details shared by SEC Chair Paul Atkins in March. Startups could raise roughly $5 million over their first four years, entrepreneurs could raise up to $75 million annually through certain token sales, and some tokens would escape securities classification once their creators cease essential managerial efforts, Atkins hinted at the time.

This story is an excerpt from the Unchained Daily newsletter.

Subscribe here to get these updates in your email for free

For founders who have spent years navigating enforcement-by-ambiguity, a formal fundraising framework would mark the clearest regulatory path yet. It arrives as Congress’s CLARITY Act, a sweeping bill on crypto market structure, faces a decisive few weeks in the Senate. Stakeholders broadly agree that if the measure does not pass before the August recess, it is unlikely to become law this year given the November midterms, leaving the SEC’s rule as potentially the industry’s most concrete win.

The SEC’s proposed rule would carry more weight than the staff statements and guidance the SEC has issued so far, which future leaders could reverse more easily. The rule draws on former Commissioner Hester Peirce’s long-standing token safe harbor concept and builds on the token taxonomy the SEC and CFTC jointly issued in March, which defined which digital assets count as securities. The agenda also lists coming rules on crypto custody and market structure.

Atkins has signaled the imminent release of the safe harbor rule more than once already this year. He initially signaled a rollout in January, then pushed it to the spring.

The proposal still sits at the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the final review stage before publication. Once published, the rule enters a public comment period before any final version takes effect.

Related Listen: Why the SEC Paused on Its Innovation Exemption for Tokenization: Bits + Bips