Crypto▲ Bullish
SEC Votes Aug. 14 on Crypto Fundraising Rule as Senate Bill Stalls
SEC votes Aug. 14 on Regulation Crypto for token fundraising. Senate cloture vote on CLARITY Act set for Sept. 15. CFTC says it will move ahead with or without Congress.
Continue with
The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to vote Friday on a proposal that would give crypto companies a lighter path to raise money without full securities registration. The meeting lands as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a bipartisan bill that cleared the House last year, remains stuck in the Senate. Majority Leader John Thune filed a procedural motion just before the August recess, setting a cloture vote for Sept. 15.
The gap between regulators moving ahead and Congress grinding slowly has become the central tension in U.S. crypto policy. The SEC’s Aug. 14 agenda has one item: a proposed framework, sometimes called Regulation Crypto, for investment contracts tied to digital assets. The rule would create an exemption similar to those used by smaller businesses in other industries, allowing startups to raise capital without registering the tokens as securities.
It would also establish a path for tokens to shed their securities status once the underlying network becomes decentralized enough that no single company or team remains in control. That question has been a legal fault line since the SEC began enforcement actions against token issuers years ago.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins has separately signaled the agency is close to unveiling an “innovation exemption” that could allow tokenized versions of stocks to trade around the clock on blockchain platforms. The scope and timing of that proposal are not yet public.
The CLARITY Act would reach further than any single agency rule. It would divide oversight of crypto markets between the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Most established tokens, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, would fall under CFTC authority as commodities. The SEC would keep authority over securities offerings and fundraising where a company expects profits from others’ work.
The cloture motion Thune filed requires 60 votes simply to end debate. It does not pass the bill. According to analysis from JD Supra, sticking points include ethics rules for public officials involved in crypto, protections for software developers, and banking industry concerns that crypto rewards programs could siphon deposits from traditional banks.