The US Securities and Exchange Commission has submitted a proposal to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget that would result in most crypto assets not being treated as securities under federal law. Records from the US General Services Administration show the agency sent two proposed rules to the White House on Friday, one of which is an interpretative notice addressing which digital assets fall under the SEC’s securities classification. As of Monday, government records listed the proposal as pending review.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins outlined the agency’s position in a notice issued last week, stating that four categories of digital assets would not be considered securities: digital commodities, digital tools, digital collectibles — including non-fungible tokens — and stablecoins. The notice described the framework as providing a coherent token taxonomy for those asset types. It also addressed how a non-security crypto asset may or may not qualify as an investment contract under existing law.
The proposed rule is intended to serve as a regulatory bridge until Congress passes broader legislation clarifying the comprehensive oversight of digital assets. The interpretative guidance follows the SEC’s signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the other federal financial regulator expected to share oversight responsibilities under a proposed market structure bill. That agreement was reached earlier this month.
On the legislative front, Politico reported Friday that White House representatives and Congressional lawmakers reached a deal on stablecoin yield provisions that could help advance the market structure bill through the Senate Banking Committee. The committee had indefinitely postponed its scheduled markup of the bill, known as the CLARITY Act, in January. That delay followed Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong publicly stating that the exchange could not support the legislation in its current form.
As of Monday, the Senate Banking Committee had not publicly announced a new date for the bill’s markup session. Senate Majority Leader John Thune reportedly indicated in March that the chamber planned to prioritize a vote on the SAVE America Act — legislation that would require voters to present proof of US citizenship in person when registering to vote — ahead of bills with bipartisan backing, including the CLARITY Act. The sequencing of Senate priorities could affect the timeline for advancing crypto market structure legislation.
Originally reported by CoinTelegraph.
