SEC debuts 'Project Crypto' to bring U.S. financial markets 'on chain'
KEY POINTS
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday debuted "Project Crypto," an initiative to modernize securities regulations to allow for crypto-based trading.
The announcement comes amid a surge of interest in tokenization, the process of issuing digital representations on a blockchain of publicly-traded securities or other assets.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins discussed the importance of preventing crypto companies from being driven offshore by "one-size-fits-all rules."
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday debuted "Project Crypto," an initiative to modernize securities rules and regulations to allow for crypto-based trading.
"To achieve President Trump's vision of making America the crypto capital of the world, the SEC must holistically consider the potential benefits and risks of moving our markets from an off-chain environment to an on-chain one," SEC chair Paul Atkins said in remarks to an "American Leadership in the Digital Finance Revolution" conference Thursday afternoon , referring to blockchain technology that enables cryptocurrencies, but has other applications as well.
"I have directed the Commission staff to update antiquated agency rules and regulations to unleash the potential of on-chain software systems in our securities markets ... Federal securities laws have always assumed the involvement of intermediaries that require regulation, but this does not mean that we should interpose intermediaries for the sake of forcing intermediation where the markets can function without them."