Paul Atkins, US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair, has shared his views on how the agency plans to handle digital assets going forward at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium in Jackson Hole.
He explained that the Commission will stop relying on enforcement as its main tool and will instead set clearer rules so companies know where they stand before problems arise.
Atkins noted that most tokens are not securities by themselves. What matters is how a token is packaged, marketed, and sold.
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He stated to the audience:
From the SEC’s perspective, we will plow forward and on this idea that just the token itself is not necessarily the security, and probably not.
He added, “There are very few, in my mind, tokens that are securities, but it depends on what’s the package around it and how that’s being sold”.
Atkins called this shift “a new day” for the SEC. He told the audience that the Commission would not return to “regulation by enforcement”, which in the past often left crypto projects uncertain about compliance until after the fact.
He said, “Now it’s different. Now we want to embrace innovation”.
Atkins’ remarks tie into the SEC’s “Project Crypto”, an initiative designed to create a framework for digital assets. He said the agency will continue this work independently of Congress, which is still debating market-structure bills.
Recently, the SEC offered new guidance on how the agency views certain types of liquid staking. What did it say? Read the full story.
