US SEC follows CFTC in staff guidance for crypto

What happened

Both agencies released the staff answers days after the Senate failed to pass a crypto market structure bill that many had expected to clarify the roles the two financial regulators would have over digital assets. SEC commissioner leaving agency this week After serving at the SEC for eight years, Commissioner Hester Peirce announced on Friday that she planned to resign on Oct. The US Securities and Exchange Commission is a voluntary company founded in 1934.

The FAQs would apply to how the SEC considers digital asset products falling under the Howey test for investment contracts. Related: Crypto PAC spends $11M to oppose Sherrod Brown in Ohio The SEC updates followed a similar move by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which offered guidance to token issuers.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Michael Selig issued statements signaling that the agencies would address crypto regulation in the absence of laws passed by Congress. Both are Republican commissioners on a bipartisan panel that normally consists of five members.

Key facts

• Both agencies — released: the staff answers days after the Senate failed to pass a crypto market structure bill that many had expected to clarify the roles the two financial regulators would have over digital assets