Paul Atkins told attendees at the Blockchain Summit in Washington that the SEC is “not the ‘securities and everything commission’ anymore.” That reframing now has formal regulatory weight behind it.
On March 17, the SEC and CFTC released joint interpretive guidance introducing a five-category token taxonomy. According to the announcement, the framework classifies payment tokens, utility assets, collectibles, and major digital commodities — including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, Cardano, and Chainlink, among others — as distinct from securities. NFTs land in a “digital collectibles” bucket. Only tokenized representations of existing securities, such as stocks and bonds recorded on a blockchain, remain under strict SEC jurisdiction. Everything else is now officially a “digital tool.”
That single reclassification removes the enforcement exposure that defined the prior administration’s approach to the industry.
The guidelines arrive while the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act remains stalled in Congress over disputes related to stablecoin interest provisions. Rather than wait for a legislative resolution, the agencies framed the guidance as a provisional safe harbor that mirrors the bill’s intended structure without requiring a congressional vote. The practical effect is that the stricter oversight mandates from the Gary Gensler era are functionally bypassed, not by law, but by administrative reinterpretation. That distinction matters: the next chair could reverse these guidelines without any vote.
The conflict-of-interest dimension is immediate. World Liberty Financial, the DeFi lending protocol controlled by the Trump family, operates in exactly the category the new rules have deregulated. Under the previous framework, project insiders faced strict lockup periods and disclosure requirements. The “digital tool” classification removes those obligations. Todd Baker, a senior fellow at Columbia Law School, argues the framework is designed to facilitate “profit-making but socially valueless” trading outside federal oversight.
Supporters disagree. Cody Carbone of The Digital Chamber characterizes the shift as a necessary correction to preserve US competitiveness. Summer Mersinger of the Blockchain Association called the inter-agency coordination helpful in the “near term.” With South Korea still debating whether to eliminate crypto taxes entirely to prevent capital flight, US regulators are moving to position the country as the dominant jurisdiction for digital asset activity.
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The regulatory gap the guidance creates is already drawing comparisons to recent enforcement history. Cases like the SEC‘s action against Gemini over internal governance disputes would likely be precluded under the new classifications, provided the projects in question do not involve tokenized securities.
Until the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act passes, the market is operating on administrative permission rather than statute.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.
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