Author: Martin

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is shifting from law enforcement supervision to framework building to outline a clear development path for the crypto industry.

"Cryptocurrency and tokenization are the SEC's top priorities." Paul Atkins, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), made this clear at the recent Fintech Week in Washington, D.C. Faced with this industry that has long been in a regulatory gray area, Atkins changed the serious attitude of previous regulatory agencies and half-jokingly called the SEC the "Securities and Innovation Commission."

This statement indicates that there may be a major shift in the U.S. regulatory policy for crypto assets. Atkins emphasized that the SEC hopes to build a strong regulatory framework to attract crypto talent and companies that have left the United States to return and lay the foundation for future innovation and development.

In fact, the SEC has already begun to promote specific measures. Atkins revealed that it will launch an "innovation exemption" mechanism to enable companies to bring on-chain products and services to market faster.

New regulatory thinking: from law enforcement to framework building

For a long time, the U.S. SEC has adopted a "regulation through law enforcement" approach to the cryptocurrency industry. This strategy has repeatedly caused controversy, but the current SEC leadership has shown a different governance approach - building an adaptive regulatory framework rather than blindly curbing it.

Atkins pointed out that the SEC will launch an "innovation exemption" program with the goal of creating a "super application"-like system that enables multiple regulatory agencies involved in crypto assets to work together and avoid the trouble of companies having to register repeatedly across multiple departments.

The backdrop of this shift is the increasing urgency of cryptocurrency regulation. In recent years, the size of the crypto market has expanded rapidly, various tokenization practices have continued to emerge, and global regulatory attitudes are undergoing a major shift from strict risk control to regulatory guidance.

During his speech, Atkins also emphasized his optimism about distributed ledger technology, calling it "the most exciting part of the crypto space." This statement indirectly reflects the SEC's recognition of the fundamental value of blockchain technology, rather than a complete denial of the potential contribution of cryptocurrencies.

"Crypto Plan": Strategic Layout of the US Market

The SEC’s proactive shift is not an isolated incident, but part of the U.S. strategic layout for crypto assets. Earlier this year, the SEC launched Project Crypto, an action to comprehensively reform securities rules. It aims to update securities rules and regulations to enable the U.S. market to migrate to the blockchain.

The initiative’s priorities are clear: provide certainty about the securities nature of crypto assets; ensure entrepreneurs can raise funds on-chain without facing endless legal uncertainty; and allow “super app” trading platforms to innovate.

At the same time, according to a recent report from the President’s Task Force on Digital Asset Markets, the SEC will work with other agencies to ensure that platforms can provide trading, staking, and lending services for crypto assets under a single regulatory framework. Atkins believes that “regulation should provide the ‘minimum effective dose’ of regulation required to protect investors, and no more than that.”

Real challenges: government shutdown and market volatility

However, the SEC faces practical obstacles in its efforts to promote crypto regulation. The U.S. government shutdown is now entering its second week, and Congress has failed to reach a funding agreement, resulting in significant restrictions on the actions of federal agencies and SEC employees being placed on unpaid leave.

This stagnation may affect the SEC's ability to respond to emergencies in the crypto market. For example, just recently, the SEC announced plans to take legal action against Ripple for selling XRP, causing XRP to fall 30% that day and other major cryptocurrencies to fall sharply.

In its lawsuit, the SEC accused Ripple of conducting an "unregistered securities offering," while Ripple argued that XRP should be considered a currency rather than a security. Such disputes highlight the urgency of establishing a clear regulatory framework.

Digital currency competition from a global perspective

The United States' crypto regulatory measures are more strategically significant in a global context. Currently, the global digital currency field is gradually differentiating into three main paths: the central bank digital currency path represented by China, the "cryptocurrency + stablecoin" path represented by the United States, and the diversified path represented by the European Union.

The United States is trying to further consolidate the dollar's global currency status in the digital economy era by building a crypto-dollar hegemony with strategic Bitcoin reserves as anchor assets and US dollar stablecoins as a means of circulation.

The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Regulation recently came into effect, establishing a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets. Some European policymakers have called for the development of “MiCA 2” to cover decentralized finance, non-fungible tokens, and digital asset lending.

Under this international competitive situation, the active actions of US regulators are not only a need for domestic financial supervision, but also part of the global competition for monetary sovereignty. As Atkins said, "the era of encryption has arrived." The question now is how countries respond to this trend.

The next few months will be a critical period for the reform of U.S. crypto regulation. If the SEC can quickly advance the "Crypto Plan" and "Innovation Exemption" after government funding is restored, the United States may attract a large number of crypto companies and talents to return, and new products such as tokenized stocks, prediction markets and early token issuance may also have a broader development space.

As major economies such as the European Union and Singapore accelerate the establishment of digital asset regulatory frameworks, the landscape of global crypto competition is taking shape. The policy shift of the U.S. SEC will become a key variable influencing the future digital asset landscape.