SEC Crypto Task Force Lead Hester Peirce Reveals Top Agency Priorities

The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force has revealed the agency’s top ten priorities. 

And unlike under Gary Gensler’s ruling, this time it seems it’s focusing on creating a clearer, more adaptable regulatory framework for the crypto industry instead of suing everybody and classifying all assets as unregistered securities.

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Clear and Concise Definitions

The Crypto Task Force will begin by redefining the core structure of digital asset regulation by focusing on providing a clear classification of digital assets. It will try to distinguish which tokens should be viewed as securities and which as commodities, a small but significant change that’s expected to bring a more practical registration process for crypto founders.

The initiative also seeks to streamline the landscape for crypto exchange-traded products, improve clearing and settlement mechanisms for tokenised securities and foster international cooperation by promoting cross-border regulatory collaboration.

Well, it’s quite a long read, but you can find all the 10 priorities in a 2000-word-plus statement from the SEC’s website.

But an important point is the definition of clear jurisdictional boundaries —identifying areas better suited for oversight by other agencies like the CFTC, something that Bill Hagerty’s stablecoin bill also looks to address— and repeal outdated policies, such as the controversial Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, to eliminate long-standing regulatory confusion.

Hester Peirce, the lead of the SEC Crypto Task Force, said they’re open to collaborating with multiple actors, from federal agencies to crypto builders:

We invite builders, enthusiasts, and skeptics to engage with us to figure out what the final rules should be and what interim steps might help to foster innovation in the meantime.

Hester Peirce

A New Beginning for Crypto Regulation?

The launch of this task force and its ten principles appear to be much bigger efforts than any previous attempts from the SEC to foster innovation. 

It also follows recent changes within the SEC, including the appointment of Acting Chair Mark Uyeda and the shift away from policies championed by former Chair Gary Gensler, who had practiced the infamous “regulation by enforcement” approach. 

While Gensler did encourage crypto projects to undergo registration properly, many founders complained and criticised that these rules were incompatible with cryptocurrencies because they are designed with traditional financial entities in mind, making compliance nearly impossible. 

Peirce is quite aware of the crypto market’s frustration with the previous administration and the SEC’s ruling. She said:

The crypto road trip on which the newly announced Crypto Task Force has embarked likewise should be more enjoyable and less risky than the crypto road trip the Commission has taken the industry on for the last decade. On that last trip, the Commission refused to use regulatory tools at its disposal and incessantly slammed on the enforcement brakes as it lurched along a meandering route with a destination not discernible to anyone.

Hester Peirce

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