The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, a formal framework offering registration exemptions of up to $5 million and $75 million for token-based fundraising. The move comes as the legislative CLARITY Act remains stalled in the Senate ahead of a crucial September 15, 2026 procedural vote. While President Donald Trump and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong urge Congress to pass the bill to close the regulatory gap with other G20 nations, the CFTC is preparing its own fallback rules if lawmakers fail to act.
SEC Regulation Crypto Assets
- ▪The SEC's proposed Regulation Crypto Assets framework would exempt token sales of up to $5 million over four years from registration under the Securities Act of 1933.
- ▪The SEC's proposed Regulation Crypto Assets framework includes a conditional safe harbor allowing a token to shed its security status if its issuer ends managerial work related to the token.
- ▪The SEC's proposed Regulation Crypto Assets framework would exempt token sales of up to $75 million a year on the condition that issuers provide financial statements and ongoing reporting.
- ▪The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed its first formal crypto rules, named Regulation Crypto Assets, on August 18, 2026.
CLARITY Act Senate delay
- ▪The U.S. Senate left Washington on August 8, 2026, without voting on the CLARITY Act, leaving the market-structure bill stalled ahead of a scheduled September 15, 2026 procedural vote.
- ▪President Donald Trump urged the Senate to pass the CLARITY Act during a White House meeting with crypto and financial executives on August 19, 2026.
- ▪The CLARITY Act's upcoming procedural vote in the Senate on September 15, 2026, requires 60 votes to proceed, meaning at least six Democrats must cross party lines to support it.
- ▪An ethics clause restricting elected officials from launching tokens has emerged as the provision most likely to block the CLARITY Act in the Senate.
CFTC alternative regulatory framework
- ▪CFTC Chairman Michael Selig directed staff to explore a framework allowing crypto exchanges to operate as CFTC-regulated markets and to examine legal pathways for onchain finance developers.
- ▪CFTC Chairman Michael Selig announced on August 20, 2026, that the agency is preparing its own digital-asset market-structure rules if the CLARITY Act fails to pass.
Corporate treasury crypto adoption
- ▪A PYMNTS Intelligence study from March 2026 showed that only 13% of middle-market firms use stablecoins and 5% employ other cryptocurrencies.
- ▪The SEC's proposed Regulation Crypto Assets framework would preempt certain state securities registration and qualification requirements for qualifying offerings and secondary-market transactions.
U.S. G20 regulatory gap
- ▪Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated that the United States is a major regulatory outlier because the vast majority of G20 nations already have established crypto trading frameworks.
- ▪Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong pointed to the United Kingdom's recently introduced cryptocurrency framework as an example of G20 nations establishing clear regulatory guidelines ahead of the United States.
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