Digital Chamber Urges New Digital Asset Regulatory Priorities
The Digital Chamber ("TDC"), an organization dedicated to championing Bitcoin, digital assets, and blockchain innovation, recently released a proposed agenda for the SEC's new chair and commission titled TDC's "2025 SEC Digital Asset Policy Priorities" ("Policy Priorities"). Incoming SEC Chair Paul Atkins is widely recognized as crypto-friendly and is himself a member of TDC's advisory board. Members of TDC also recently met with and presented the Policy Priorities to the staff of Republican SEC Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, whom TDC describes as "outspoken critics of the SEC's anti-digital asset agenda in recent years, [and who] are ideally positioned to assess the agency's actions across it's [sic] divisions and offices."
According to TDC, the SEC now "has the opportunity to reset its historically troubled relationship with the global digital asset industry and launch an era of transparency, cooperation, and well-reasoned regulation to bring much-needed clarity to digital asset market participants." To that end, the Policy Priorities include a timeline for action from day 1 through day 90 of the new administration and a detailed list of policy priorities that TDC believes should be addressed during that 90-day period.
The Policy Priorities call for the end of so-called "regulation by enforcement" and argue for a clearing of the decks of "outdated and confusing former director and staff level speeches, letters and other informal and non-binding 'guidance' that make it nearly impossible for current market participants to understand how to comply with the SEC's rules and regulations." The Policy Priorities also urge the commission to issue "sensible and clear" statements, no-action letters, and tailored rulemaking for the digital asset industry.
Among other things, the Policy Priorities urge the commission to issue a clear statement outlining the commission's provisional enforcement approach to digital assets on Day 1 and to seek stays for ongoing cases that do not involve actual fraud or investor loss and consider bringing "no more theory cases." The Policy Priorities also urge the commission to use discretionary enforcement authority to issue termination letters and formally end all investigations related to digital assets that are not based on fraud or investor loss within the first 30 days. They also recommend that the commission revisit the size of the "outsized" Crypto Assets Unit.
The Policy Priorities also lay out various rulemaking priorities, including finalizing the definition of when a digital asset implicates the securities laws with a more precise definition or test than what is currently required by Howey and that is coordinated with the CFTC, Congress, and the Trump administration. Additionally, the Policy Priorities encourage the commission to propose regulation for and approve exchanges and clearing agencies that support digital assets.
If you have questions about the Policy Priorities and potential impact of a second Trump Administration on your crypto activities, plans, or pending matters before a federal financial agency or court, please contact the authors or your DWT attorney contact.