The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has put the industry on notice. The agency updated its 2026 regulatory agenda, revealing plans to release its long-awaited crypto rulemaking proposal as early as this month. It’s a move that would set the stage for one of the most significant shifts in U.S. digital asset policy in years.
The proposal, internally referred to as Regulation Crypto, has been in the works for months. When SEC Chair Paul Atkins first addressed this coming regulation in mid-March, he said it would be proposed in the coming weeks, but it did not arrive. Nearly four months later, the updated agenda places it firmly in July.
The SEC’s Approach Is Shifting
The latest initiative marks one of the first concrete regulatory proposals under Atkins’ leadership and signals a clear shift away from the SEC’s previous reliance on enforcement actions toward a formal rulemaking process aimed at providing greater regulatory clarity for the digital asset industry.
Under the previous administration, the agency filed dozens of cases against crypto firms, often without issuing workable guidance on what compliance actually looked like. That approach drew consistent criticism from the industry. This time, the SEC appears to be building a framework instead of a legal track record.
On the other hand, the Regulation Crypto proposal would establish safe harbours and exemptions for certain on-chain activities, including DeFi and tokenised securities. Eligible startups could be those valued under $5 million in their first four years, while entrepreneurs may raise up to $75 million through qualifying crypto investment contracts.
Once developers are no longer the driving force behind a crypto project, the token would no longer be treated as a security. Once a project’s developers have finished all work promised to investors, the token itself should step outside the SEC’s securities rules.
The CLARITY Act Factor
Supporters of the CLARITY Act argue that agency rulemaking alone cannot provide the long-term certainty the industry requires. Moreover, Senator Cynthia Lummis argued that the legislation represents a much broader decision about America’s role in the future financial system.
If the Clarity Act does not pass by August 2026, it is unlikely to become law in 2026 due to approaching midterm elections, which would leave the SEC’s own rulemaking as the primary framework governing U.S. crypto markets.
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