The SEC and Paul Atkins are advancing in 2025 rules they say let crypto firms innovate while shielding investors. The measures reach issuers, exchanges, and DeFi projects operating in the United States and may redraw how digital assets are watched. The package sits inside “Project Crypto,” opened in July 2025 to update securities law so that tokens and on-chain markets fit the statute.
Project Crypto will draft new offer rules and weigh changes that place crypto on national exchanges and alternative trading systems. Atkins wants plain rules for each token type so that companies do not leave for lighter regimes, and an “innovation exemption,” meant to speed product launches, should be live before 2026.
The SEC meets the CFTC to mark borders: spot crypto would shift to the CFTC, while securities tokens stay with the SEC. Commissioner Hester Peirce runs the Crypto Task Force and holds talks with start-ups and market makers.
What measures does the SEC intend to take?
Institutions may enter once the rules are clear, more listings could add liquidity, and firms may keep headquarters in the U.S. Yet manipulation and fraud still need watching. The SEC-CFTC split will move spot contracts under new oversight.
The public first saw Project Crypto in July 2025, and the agencies aim to finish the exemption and hold the joint round before the year closes. The 2025 package seeks to balance innovation with investor protection, setting clearer oversight for tokens, exchanges, and on-chain markets in the United States.
