Overview
On January 21, 2025, US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Acting Chairman Mark T. Uyeda announced the formation of a new crypto task force.[1] This initiative aims to develop a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets. Led by Commissioner Hester Peirce, the task force signifies a shift toward greater regulatory engagement with the crypto industry under the new SEC leadership.
In Depth
The crypto task force will collaborate with SEC staff and the public to establish clear regulatory guidelines, provide realistic paths to registration, create sensible disclosure frameworks, and judiciously deploy enforcement resources.[2] The goal of the task force is to set the SEC on a regulatory path that respects the bounds of the law.
This approach marks a departure from the SEC’s previous strategy of regulating the crypto industry primarily through enforcement actions, which has led to confusion about legality and created an environment hostile to innovation and conducive to fraud.[3] The new task force will align with Commissioner Peirce’s long-standing position on the crypto industry. She has historically criticized the SEC for deploying enforcement actions without issuing appropriate guidance and has advocated for input from market and industry participants when crafting crypto policy. Commissioner Peirce’s leadership of the task force confirms the SEC’s commitment to a new regulatory approach.
The SEC’s announcement emphasizes that the crypto task force’s success will depend on input from investors, industry participants, academics, and other interested parties via roundtables and other mediums, including the SEC’s new crypto email address, crypto@sec.gov.
This announcement marks the beginning of a new era for the crypto industry. On January 23, 2025, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing regulators to establish a federal framework to oversee digital assets and prohibiting the creation of a central bank digital currency.[4] That same day, the SEC issued Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 122, which rescinded the guidance in SAB 121. The previous guidance had suggested that financial institutions must reflect client crypto assets they hold as balance sheet liabilities.[5]
Under SAB 122, entities that safeguard crypto assets for others must determine whether to recognize a liability related to the risk of loss under such obligations, applying recognition and, if so, the measurement of such liability, applying recognition and measurement requirements for liabilities under the Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification (FASB ASC) (Subtopic 450-20, Loss Contingencies) and International Accounting Standards (IAS) 37, Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets.
It is well known that Commissioner Pierce is supportive of the crypto industry. We anticipate increased dialogue and collaboration with the industry, which will be a huge shift from the notoriously empty “come in and register” retort from former Commissioner Gary Gensler’s SEC.
We are seeing a race to market new crypto and blockchain products in the United States. Crypto-related acquisitions are on the rise with many foreign market participants having their eyes set on the US market, some of whom are opting to buy instead of build. We fully anticipate this new task force will stimulate – and not stifle – responsible offerings in the US.
We will continue to monitor crypto-related developments and provide updates. Please reach out to the authors of this article to discuss new crypto product offerings or acquisitions in the US.
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