Listen, an interesting thing happened the other day in the States. On June 13, 2025, the American SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) suddenly abolished a whole series of rules that limited the cryptocurrency industry during the Biden administration. We are talking about 14 initiatives, including several key provisions that have affected the crypto business the most.
All this is part of a new policy that Trump is actively promoting now: the idea is to make the United States a leader in the field of digital assets. The new head of the SEC, Paul Atkins, is obviously set for a softer and more flexible approach to the crypto market.
What exactly was canceled?
Two rules made the most noise.:
Rule 3b-16. It expanded the definition of an "exchange" so much that even DeFi protocols and chat rooms discussing the exchange of tokens fell under it. It turned out that any developer who wrote open source code risked being regulated by the SEC. In the industry, this was perceived as a direct threat.
The storage rule. It forced consultants to store clients' crypto assets only with "official" custodians (most often with banks). This, in fact, displaced crypto companies like Coinbase Custody and made the market less competitive.
In addition to these two, other proposals related to information disclosure, tokenized securities transactions, and climate risks were canceled — all part of a broader deregulation program.
Why did the SEC change its mind?
There were many dissatisfied people even inside the commission. Commissioner Hester Pierce said bluntly that the SEC cannot turn code developers into criminals. They say that writing software is not the same as managing an exchange.
Interestingly, even some Democrats admitted that the rules lacked specifics. This means that they could hardly work effectively and would not create legal clarity.
How did the market react?
The industry reacted violently. DeFi projects like Uniswap and Curve have breathed a sigh of relief. Startups and investment funds like Andreessen Horowitz have already declared that this is a "victory for American technological leadership." A new influx of investments and project launches in the United States is expected.
On the other hand, the traditional players — banks, asset managers — are disappointed. It was convenient for them to act according to the old rules, which gave them more control.
Lawyers are also not thrilled: they warn that sudden policy turns can scare off investors. Who wants to build a business in a country where regulations change dramatically every two years?
What's next?
The SEC is not going to completely abandon oversight. Now they are moving to a point—by-point approach: to figure out which tokens are securities and which are not. There is also coordination with other agencies regarding the regulation of stablecoins.
Instead of strict controls, the SEC promises to use new tools to detect fraud without hindering the development of DeFi. But there is one big problem: there are no clear rules yet. This creates a vacuum in which bona fide projects don't know how to act, and unscrupulous ones can take advantage of it.
It turns out that the crypto market has freedom, but there are no clear guidelines.
The sector has entered a new era, more open, but full of uncertainty. Do you think this is the beginning of a constructive dialogue between the government and the industry, or just a temporary easing before another wave of pressure?