Nasdaq Tells SEC That Accurate Cryptocurrency Classification Will Play Key Role in Future Regulation
In its letter to the agency, the company noted that a clear taxonomy is needed to successfully advance cryptocurrency regulation in the United States.
Jesse Hamilton | Edited by Parikshit Mishra Updated April 25, 2025, 7:26 pm Published April 25, 2025, 3:00 pm
Key points:
- Nasdaq has sent a detailed letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission's cryptocurrency working group outlining its vision for what ideal regulations for cryptocurrencies in the U.S. might look like.
- Commissioner Hester Pearce, who chairs the task force, called for discussion about what steps the agency should take to oversee the sector.
In a 23-page letter sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission's cryptocurrency working group, Nasdaq, the operator of one of the leading U.S. stock exchanges and a cryptocurrency index, advises U.S. regulators to focus on clearly defining digital assets, dividing them into four categories that would help determine which agency would serve as the arbitrator.
“While a stock by any other name will remain a stock, the current market ecosystem can easily integrate digital assets by establishing the right taxonomy and adapting rules that reflect the nature of new and innovative digital assets,” the letter said in response to an invitation from Commissioner Hester Peirce to comment on future regulation.
Nasdaq believes that future digital asset categories should include:
- financial securities (tokens linked to assets that are classified as securities under current definitions, including stocks, bonds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which Nasdaq believes should be treated in the same way as their underlying assets);
- contracts for investment in digital assets (tokenized contracts that meet all the criteria for securities under the Supreme Court's “revised version” of the so-called Howey test);
- digital assets related to commodities (defined as commodities in the United States);
- other digital assets (anything that does not fall into one of the categories and to which the rules governing securities or commodities should not apply).
The classification of securities will be the responsibility of the SEC, which will interact with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which is responsible for commodities. These agencies will presumably at some point be subject to new cryptocurrency legislation being drafted by Congress, and will draw a clear line between their jurisdictions.
The letter, signed by John Zecca, the company's chief regulator, argues that “digital assets that qualify as financial securities should be traded in the same way as they are today.”
Nasdaq also proposed that the two agencies create a kind of cross-trading designation for platforms that could handle contracts for investments in digital assets, commodities and other types of assets in one place.
In the letter, Nasdaq emphasizes its robustness in the digital asset space, arguing that its “trading and clearing services, market and trading oversight, and technology
Источник
