SEC Proposes New Crypto Offering Framework, Marking Shift from “Regulation by Enforcement”

The SEC is proposing a significant change in how it regulates crypto offerings.

On August 18, 2026, the Commission proposed “Regulation Crypto Assets,” a new framework that would create tailored exemptions from Securities Act registration for certain offerings involving crypto assets. 

Chairman Paul Atkins has criticized the SEC’s past approach to crypto-related matters as “regulation by enforcement” and an attempt to fit a “square peg in a round hole.” The proposed rules reflect an acknowledgment that the existing securities offering framework was not well suited to the distinctive features of crypto transactions. Rather than simply applying that framework as-is, the proposal would create crypto-specific pathways for offerings that are subject to the federal securities laws.

The proposal follows the SEC’s March 2026 interpretive guidance and marks perhaps the clearest step yet to move away from the Commission’s prior enforcement-driven approach to the crypto markets. It also comes as the CLARITY Act moves through Congress, putting agency rulemaking and legislation on parallel tracks. 

What would change?

The proposal would create two new registration exemptions for offerings of covered investment contracts involving crypto assets: