Blockchain Legal Resource

On February 21, 2025, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce released a public statement seeking public comment on a variety of issues regarding crypto assets. It is the latest announcement from the SEC’s crypto task force.

Commissioner Peirce’s statement indicates that as she seeks to aid the SEC in developing a tailored approach to regulating crypto assets, she is considering a potential taxonomy that considers:

• First, crypto assets that are securities because they have the intrinsic characteristics of securities;
• Second, crypto assets that are offered and sold as part of an investment contract, which is a security, even though the crypto asset may not itself be a security;
• Third, tokenized securities; and
• Finally, all other crypto assets, which are not securities.

The statement then seeks the public’s input by posing 48 multipart questions on the following topics:

• Classifying crypto assets as securities;
• Streamlining public offerings of crypto assets that are securities;
• Developing a possible safe harbor from SEC registration for certain crypto securities offerings;
• Facilitating secondary market trading of crypto securities;
• Clarifying rules for broker-dealers, registered investment advisers and registered investment companies that custody crypto assets;
• Regulating crypto lending;
• Approving applications for crypto exchange-traded products;
• Creating a regulatory regime for tokenized securities; and
• Adding a micro-innovation sandbox to encourage experimentation for smaller projects.

Commissioner Peirce’s statement came shortly after another SEC announcement rebranding the SEC’s Crypto Asset and Cyber enforcement unit as the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit. The news media also reports that the SEC is on the verge of dropping several high-profile enforcement cases against prominent crypto brokers and exchanges.