NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Securities and Exchange Commission is close to proposing “cryptocurrency regulations” expanding its approach to overseeing the crypto industry and drawing lines between transactions that could be securities and those that are not, the agency’s official said Monday.
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said the commission’s new regulatory cryptography was before the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, meaning it was close to being released. These regulations focus on the Securities Act of 1933 and will address, among other issues, fundraising and startup exemptions, he said Monday at an event hosted by Vanderbilt University and the Blockchain Association.
He told CoinDesk after his Q&A that the SEC also intends to release its long-awaited innovation exemption soon.
“We would like to have reactions and everything else,” he said. “It’s not a rule as such, but obviously we need to know how it works and whether people have problems with it or not.”
One aspect of this exemption, he said, is that it would not disadvantage incumbents and would focus only on startups.
“We want people to actually experience [that] framework,” he said.
Mid-term monitoring
Several times during his speech, Atkins emphasized Congress’ role, saying his agency’s rulemaking process was on track, despite everything Congress might do.
“I think we have enough room to maneuver now, even despite what might happen in the midterms – although I still want a friendly Congress obviously – they may throw thumbtacks in the road in front of our tires but they’re not really going to slow us down.”
Atkins also said the public needs to “get involved in these next elections,” citing Sen. Bernie Moreno as an example.
“It’s not going to do any of us any good for Congress to really get off track, and it’s going to raise a lot more questions in the future because then people are just going to be like, ‘oh my God, maybe this is still a passing phase,'” he said. “We need to make sure your friends are in Congress. I think you saw how that really paid off in the last election.”
