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Ahmed Barakat
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The SEC has officially put three things crypto rulemaking on its agenda 2026 rules, according to the Agency Rule List, covering the supply and sale of crypto assets, rules broker-dealer financial responsibility, and the Change Act changes to crypto trading in other places.
The changes show the Commission is forming an unofficial government together with Congress, rather than waiting for legislation to be enforced.
That difference is important. The CLARITY Act it hasn’t been signed since early July. The SEC’s decision to put a queue on its results now, is pressing the timing of market participants who think that the reform of the system will reach the beginning.
Three Things, Three Different Markets
The first step examines how crypto assets are issued and traded, and clearly considers certain exemptions and safe harbor arrangements. The SEC has already proposed new exemptions to allow companies to offer and trade tokenized securities, especially tokenized US stocks, with instructions that may fall under the rulemaking bucket.
Chairman Paul Atkins has set a broad agenda for embracing innovation, bringing more products to the surface, and clarifying sustainability issues.
For token issuers that are moving in the anonymity of subscriptions, a secure secure environment is the most important business item on the list.
It determines whether a project can sell tokens to US retailers at all, and under what conditions. The nature, limits, timing, and meaning of the absolute power of division have not been resolved, so legislative knowledge is necessary.
The second part examines the rules of the role of broker-dealer: in particular, Rules 15c3-1 (investment capital), 15c3-3 (customer protection), 17a-3, and 17a-4 (books and records), and changes related to how these are applied to crypto assets.
The SEC had already defined conditions to allow certain DeFi platforms to operate without registering as broker-dealers. Upcoming rulemaking could make those features on or off, a distinction that could determine whether front-end providers and integrators face registration challenges or a limited process.
The third item is an amendment to the Exchange Act to affect crypto trading on ATSs and national security trading. This is part of the market, the rules governing the way the property operates, the disclosures that are owed, and the way the system operates in crypto-asset securities is handled by traditional currencies.
ATS active in crypto currently resides in the audio space; The revised Exchange Act rules would clarify whether the existing ATS registers operate as is or require a similar crypto-specific approach.
Atkins’ Framing and Political Context
President Atkins, according to a key source, emphasized the Commission’s efforts to embrace technology, bring more things onshore, create clear rules to raise capital within the crypto environment, and provide clarity about tokenized security, framing all three things as part of the delivery of President Trump’s goal to make the US the capital of the crypto world.
This arrangement is intentional: it unifies the administration and the administration.
President Trump, at the launch of the Trump account, said that he was a big fan of crypto and said that Bitcoin could be included in those accounts.
The political background behind crypto Reforming the law is not difficult, but political will and governance are essential.
