.png){kind=logo}
The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed Regulation Crypto Assets on August 18, 2026, creating new federal pathways for crypto offerings. Chairman Paul Atkins says the plan aims to bring fundraising and innovation back to the United States. The proposal includes two exemptions and a conditional safe harbor while keeping investor protection requirements.
Atkins has argued for months that aggressive enforcement drove crypto companies overseas. He says founders needed clear guidance instead of court fights and enforcement actions.
He also says older securities rules did not fit token-based businesses. In his view, applying rules written in the 1930s made lawful capital formation harder for crypto companies. Paul Atkins told Fox Business that investors can already move money across borders online. Therefore, he wants US law to provide a legal domestic route for that activity.
The startup exemption would allow one offering of up to $5 million during a four-year period. The second exemption would permit up to $75 million during each 12-month period.
Larger offerings would face stricter requirements, including financial statements and continuing reports. Both exemptions would also require narrative disclosures across ten areas, including investment contract terms and offering details.
The proposal would also preempt state registration and qualification rules for covered offerings and certain secondary transactions. This change would replace multiple state requirements with a federal framework.
Also Read: Injective Expands US Tokenization With SEC Transfer Agent Status
Regulation Crypto Assets also proposes a conditional safe harbor from the investment contract definition. The provision focuses on whether an issuer has completed or permanently stopped promised managerial efforts.
Under the proposal, a qualifying crypto asset would no longer be an investment contract once those essential efforts end. The measure targets uncertainty around tokens linked to projects that later become decentralized.
The proposal follows SEC guidance from March 2026, which outlined five digital asset categories. Atkins also wants Congress to pass the CLARITY Act and divide oversight between the SEC and CFTC.
He argues legislation could create rules that future SEC leadership could not easily reverse. Atkins has presented congressional action and SEC rulemaking as parallel routes toward bringing crypto capital back to US markets.
