Once upon a time, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission tried to boss around the crypto market like a capo cracking down on the crew after a messy heist.
They went full throttle, treating most crypto tokens as securities, throwing lawsuits around like heavy punchlines from the big boss.
That was under Gary Gensler, the former SEC chair.
Abusive relationship?
The market? Prices plummeted by over 5% in days after enforcement announcements, and nearly 17% over the next month. Smaller, riskier tokens? Trading volumes hit the skids like a stolen getaway car.
But trying to ban crypto outright? Forget about it. Bloomberg’s Matt Levine dropped the line, and said that ship has sailed.
This isn’t some neighborhood racket you just shut down because it’s ugly or risky.
Crypto’s a global beast now, too big and too juicy for the SEC to just snuff out. And ignoring it? Good joke. So, what’s the SEC’s new play?
New terms
Enter Paul Atkins, the new SEC chair. He’s flipping the script with Project Crypto, to making life easier for token issuers by crafting regulations that fit the crypto world instead of forcing them into the old school stock market frame.
It’s like switching from muscle cars to electric, same road, different engine. The SEC’s gotta regulate, but on crypto’s terms, not their dusty, outdated playbook.
There’s more sass in the story. The White House, under the Trump administration’s push, laid down a 166-page playbook called Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology.
They want innovation, not enforcement raids everywhere. Banks are warming up to crypto too.
JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon is making noises about stablecoins and tokenized investments like he’s eyeing a new racket, slow moves but moves nonetheless.
The third way
Levine distilled it, the SEC has just three cards, ban it, ignore it, or regulate it smartly. Ban and ignore?
Dead deals. The only way is to regulate in a way the whole crypto crew can live with.
The era of outright hostility is fading into the past. Crypto regulation in America is stepping into a new, smarter phase. For the win.
Cryptocurrency and Web3 expert, founder of Kriptoworld
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With years of experience covering the blockchain space, András delivers insightful reporting on DeFi, tokenization, altcoins, and crypto regulations shaping the digital economy.
