As Congress considers its breakthrough cryptocurrency bill, regulators are already taking action
As the Securities and Exchange Commission prepares to discuss cryptocurrencies at a roundtable, policy initiatives within the agency are becoming more visible than loud statements.
Jesse Hamilton | Edited by Nikhilesh De Updated Mar 20, 2025 16:02 UTC Published Mar 20, 2025 15:04 UTC
Key points:
- While cryptocurrency advocates are hoping for legislative changes in Congress that will finally bring about American regulation, financial regulators are moving quickly to make significant changes.
- Industry lawyers also expect a Securities and Exchange Commission roundtable on cryptocurrencies this week to provide more information on the direction of digital asset oversight in anticipation of specific laws.
While the crypto sector's attention is focused on policy changes in the White House and Congress, financial agencies are consistently adapting their approaches to the Biden administration's stance on digital assets.
Step by step, acting heads of banking and securities regulators are revisiting policies and important compliance measures that have previously been used to restrict the digital asset industry. A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission roundtable on Friday will further clarify the delicate legal approach to defining crypto securities, possibly pointing to a way forward.
While permanent leaders are still awaiting Senate confirmation for appointments to the SEC, CFTC, and banking agencies, each of these agencies is making active policy moves that effectively set the stage for cryptocurrency to get started. Meanwhile, more attention is being paid to President Donald Trump’s efforts to create a U.S. Bitcoin reserve (which has not yet been accompanied by a plan to purchase new bitcoin) and Congress’s long-running work on full cryptocurrency legislation (which is making significant progress, but could take time to complete).
Adam Pollet, a securities lawyer at Eversheds Sutherland who advises on digital asset projects, called the moment a “reset.”
“They wanted to kind of start with a clean slate,” he said in an interview, interpreting the SEC's position as “We're sending you a signal that we want you to go ahead and try something new, and we're not going to stop you.”
At the SEC, the move took the regulator back to the era before the end of President Donald Trump’s first term, when then-SEC chief Jay Clayton led a push to prosecute Ripple as an illegal exchange. CEO Brad Garlinghouse said Wednesday that the agency was dropping that charge — the latest in several high-profile crypto cases the regulator has shut down. The SEC no longer claims that most crypto tokens are unregistered securities.
However, the SEC's abandonment of its previous compliance position does not necessarily establish new policy. Rather, it represents a policy vacuum in which the regulator has stepped back from the field, awaiting legal clarification.
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