US / SEC

The SEC's posture is restrictive but evolving, applied substantially through enforcement: assets deemed securities fall under full registration and disclosure rules. Recent clarity has opened doors: stablecoins are now federally regulated under the GENIUS Act (2025), spot commodity-based ETPs can use generic listing standards, and a 2025 staff statement said protocol staking is not always a securities transaction. SEC and CFTC jurisdiction still overlaps.

Key regulations

  • SEC "investment contract" (Howey) analysis of digital assets
  • GENIUS Act (2025), federal stablecoin law
  • SEC generic listing standards for commodity-based ETPs (2025)

Entities

  • issuers
  • exchanges/ATS
  • broker-dealers
  • custodians
  • asset managers

Activities

  • issuance
  • custody
  • staking
  • stablecoins
  • ETPs

Developer orientation. Not legal advice.

What to Watch

  • Whether a given token is an "investment contract" (security), still largely case-by-case.
  • Liquid staking and staking-as-a-service: unsettled.
  • NFTs and DeFi: no formal framework; enforcement-driven.
  • SEC/CFTC jurisdictional boundary.

See also