Sources say SIFMA and the White House pressed the SEC to delay after a scheduling issue. The rules session is on hold; Atkins and Selig meet Trump Wednesday.
The SEC canceled a Friday meeting that was set to begin formal rulemaking on crypto fundraising. The agency cited an “unforeseen scheduling issue.” People familiar with the matter said the real pressure came from two quarters: SIFMA and the White House.
SIFMA, the Wall Street trade group, has spent the past year resisting broad regulatory relief for crypto and tokenized securities firms. In June 2025 the group wrote to the SEC, urging the agency not to make major changes without a formal public notice-and-comment process. The concern was regulatory arbitrage: newer crypto entrants facing lighter obligations than the rules traditional brokers already live with. Investor protections weaken when one set of firms plays by different rules, SIFMA argued.
The group also said it would consider legal challenges if the SEC exceeded its authority.
The canceled session had been a step toward an innovation exemption. The SEC's Crypto Task Force was developing the exemption to give crypto firms more flexibility in handling tokenized securities, without applying every rule that governs traditional finance firms. It would have used the SEC's existing authority to grant relief, bypassing the lengthier formal rulemaking process. SIFMA had warned against exactly that approach.
The same people said the White House asked the SEC to postpone. The concern was that Regulation Crypto Assets and the attached innovation exemption could complicate negotiations over the Clarity Act, the bill covering crypto fundraising and tokenized securities. A Senate procedural vote is expected in September. The White House did not want a regulatory side door muddying the legislative calendar.
The Clarity Act is still unsettled. The Senate Agriculture Committee is working through DeFi protections, rules for developers, ethics provisions for government officials, and stablecoin yield language. Banks are pushing for changes to the stablecoin provisions. Chief executives at Goldman Sachs and Citi have backed the broader bill while asking for amendments.
Other policy events are still on the calendar. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and CFTC Chairman Michael Selig are set to attend a White House event Wednesday, where President Trump is expected to speak. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse are also expected. Selig hosts the first meeting of the CFTC's Innovation Advisory Committee the next day. Several crypto and finance executives are set to participate.
Crypto firms that had been watching the SEC framework closely viewed the exemption as a potential lifeline. It offered a path to more operational flexibility while Congress settled the broader legislative picture. The exemption is now on hold. No new date has been set for the SEC session. The Senate returns in September.
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