The White House released the long-awaited cryptocurrency policy recommendation report, which could end years of regulatory uncertainty for digital asset companies that have long struggled with unclear securities law guidance.
Last Wednesday, President Trump's digital asset working group released a cryptocurrency policy report outlining market structure, banking regulations, and methods to strengthen the dollar's dominance through stablecoins and crypto tax law.
A key proposal in the report is to clarify the division of responsibilities between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The CFTC will gain regulatory authority over the spot crypto market to address long-standing concerns about enforcement overlap or conflict.
Clarifying the regulatory oversight limits between the two agencies will lay the foundation for a "mature, transparent, and scalable crypto ecosystem," said Edwin Mata, a blockchain attorney and CEO of tokenization platform Brickken, in a statement to Cointelegraph.
"Let each agency oversee the tools that best match their expertise to avoid duplication and confusion," Mata said, which can achieve "consistency in legal interpretation."
"This is particularly critical in legal jurisdictions like the U.S., where case law and precedent dominate."
According to Mata, past inconsistent regulatory stances have led to fragmented legal interpretations, forcing courts to resolve disputes among agencies. He stated that the report could "promote consistent jurisprudence, allowing legal opinions to be built on a solid foundation."
Ripple lawsuit resolution sets the context
The White House policy recommendations were released amid one of the most prominent legal controversies in crypto history: two months after the resolution of the SEC's lawsuit against Ripple Labs. The SEC sued Ripple in December 2020, accusing the company of raising $1.3 billion through the sale of unregistered XRP securities.
In July 2023, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP is not a security in retail sales, but is when sold to institutional investors; a $125 million fine was imposed on Ripple in August 2024.
SEC/CFTC division addresses the 'key obstacle' for mainstream crypto applications
The White House's cryptocurrency recommendations could "eliminate the industry's concerns about ambiguous securities laws" by setting regulatory boundaries, addressing the "key obstacles" that hinder U.S. crypto innovation, analysts at Bitfinex stated.