SEC could start writing crypto rules before the Senate votes on CLARITY
SEC Could Start Writing Crypto Rules Before the Senate Votes on CLARITY
The entry says those rules could include exemptions and safe harbors designed to clarify the regulatory framework, provide greater market certainty, facilitate capital formation, and protect investors.
That would put token issuers and projects seeking registration, exemption, or disclosure paths near the front of the agency's process. It would also move one of the industry's longest-running disputes into a formal rulemaking channel after years in which crypto firms argued that the SEC relied too heavily on enforcement actions.
This is also the most legally sensitive of the three July entries. RegInfo lists the legal authority for the Crypto Assets proposal as "not yet determined," meaning the agency has not identified the statutory footing in the agenda entry itself.
That does not preclude a proposal, but it could become a point of attack if the SEC tries to build a broad offering framework before Congress provides it with clearer authority.
Custody and broker-dealer compliance come next. A separate July entry covers possible amendments to financial responsibility, customer protection, recordkeeping, and reporting rules as they apply to crypto assets. The entry cites Rules 15c3-1 and 15c3-3, as well as Rules 17a-3 and 17a-4.
Those rules would shape how far regulated securities firms can go in crypto. Broker-dealers need clear treatment on capital, custody, customer protection, and books and records before they can support tokenized securities or crypto-linked products across regulated platforms.
Without that treatment, Wall Street firms may have demand for crypto products but still lack the compliance path to handle them at scale.
The SEC's third target covers market structure, with possible Exchange Act changes governing crypto trading on alternative trading systems and national securities exchanges.
A Published SEC Proposal Would Raise Pressure on Congress
The race now turns on whether the SEC can put a crypto proposal into the Federal Register before Congress gives CLARITY a Senate vote.
If the SEC publishes one of its July proposals first, the agency would give issuers, broker-dealers, and trading venues a concrete rulemaking process to respond to while the broader market-structure bill remains unresolved.
The debate would shift from Capitol Hill into SEC rulemaking, giving industry groups a chance to argue for broader exemptions and more workable custody and trading rules.
It could also change the legislative calculation. A live SEC proposal may give lawmakers a baseline to accept, narrow, or override. It could also increase pressure on Senate leaders to act if lawmakers believe the agency is filling gaps that should be settled by statute.
Still, publication alone would not make the SEC path decisive. The proposals would need commission approval, public comment, and possible revisions before becoming final. They could also face legal challenges or be reshaped by any market-structure bill Congress passes later.
That makes the July agenda important because of when it could start, not because of what it can finish on its own. It does not replace CLARITY or settle the full US crypto rulebook. But it gives the SEC a way to begin writing securities-side rules before the Senate decides whether the broader bill gets floor time.
The next signal is twofold: whether Senate leaders find time for the CLARITY Act before the Aug. 7 recess, and which SEC proposal is published first.
This article has been published in Cryptoslate via Yahoo News.
SEC could start writing crypto rules before the Senate votes on CLARITY
The agenda puts issuers, broker-dealers, and trading venues on separate NPRM tracks while the Senate races Aug. 7. The post SEC could start writing crypto rules before the Senate votes on CLARITY appeared first on CryptoSlate.
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