SEC Unveils Proposed Fundraising Route for Crypto Token Issuers

The SEC proposed a new framework that would let qualifying crypto projects raise up to $75 million in a single 12-month period without completing a full securities registration. Called Regulation Crypto Assets, the proposal marks the agency's first attempt at building a purpose-built fundraising lane for token issuers.

Here is the tension worth tracking: this is a proposed rule, not a final one, and it arrives while Congress still hasn't passed the CLARITY Act market-structure bill that SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins says is ultimately needed to make any of this durable.

How the New SEC Crypto Fundraising Lane Actually Works

The proposal contains two offering exemptions. A smaller "startup exemption" would allow up to $5 million in token sales over a four-year period, with lighter disclosure requirements aimed at early-stage projects.

The larger "fundraising exemption" is the headline number: up to $75 million per 12-month period, according to Atkins' statement on the proposal. Issuers using this larger tier would have to provide financial-condition disclosures, including audited financial statements, once they cross certain capital-raising thresholds, plus ongoing reporting obligations for as long as they keep raising under the exemption.