In trade, the U.S. is moving towards de-globalization, adopting trade protectionism; whereas in finance, the U.S. is accelerating globalization again with aggressive liberalism. The essence of this phenomenon is that the U.S. hopes to use the internal and external discrepancies of trade and financial markets to crush the existing international rule system, and make the international community passively accept a 'America First' new order. If successful, this process will yield substantial rule-making dividends for the U.S.!
The announcement of the SEC launching 'Project Crypto' is precisely a product of this logic. The U.S. promoting the 'on-chain' integration of financial markets signifies a shift in its regulatory logic toward crypto assets from passive response to active guidance. It will siphon liquidity from small and medium economies globally and attempt to trap 'Central and Eastern Europe' in a 'passive follow-up spiral' in finance and trade!
On August 1, 2025, Paul Atkins, Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, announced the launch of 'Project Crypto,' aimed at comprehensively reforming the existing regulatory framework to accommodate crypto assets and pave the way for 'on-chain' integration in the U.S. financial market. This initiative will reshape the regulatory landscape of the crypto market in various ways, as detailed below:
Clarify the issuance standards for crypto assets: The SEC will establish clear classification standards, such as differentiating collectibles, stablecoins, and commodities, and set exclusive disclosure, exemption, and safe harbor mechanisms for projects that qualify as securities, such as ICOs, airdrops, and network rewards, ending regulatory uncertainty and curbing the phenomenon of projects 'avoiding the U.S. market due to fear of regulation.'
Support for diversified custody and trading platforms: Atkins stated that he would firmly support self-custody wallets, reform the 'special purpose broker-dealer' rules that do not apply to crypto assets, and establish more applicable regulations for registered institutions to custody crypto assets, to support the development of diverse custody and trading platforms.
Promote the emergence of 'super apps': The SEC will collaborate with other regulatory agencies to establish the most effective licensing structures for registrants, allowing non-security crypto assets and crypto asset securities to trade in parallel on SEC-regulated platforms, promoting the emergence in the U.S. of 'super apps' that can integrate instant messaging, social networking, and financial services into one APP, similar to China’s WeChat and Alipay.
Support for decentralized financial systems: The SEC will promote amendments to national market system regulations and other related rules, support on-chain trading of tokenized securities, and encourage market participants to develop purely software-based financial service systems that operate without intermediaries in the decentralized finance ecosystem in the U.S.
Provide innovative exemptions: The SEC will change its regulatory logic to provide 'innovative exemptions' for new business models that do not fully comply with current rules temporarily. The prerequisite is to adhere to the core principles of U.S. securities law, including regular reporting, introducing a whitelist mechanism or 'verification pool,' and restricting the issuance of tokenized securities that do not meet specific compliance standards, to avoid outdated rules and regulations stifling innovative entrepreneurial spirit.
Previously, before and after Paul Atkins took office, the SEC had taken a series of actions that made the crypto industry clearly feel the shift in regulatory direction. Such actions included initiating dialogues with the crypto industry, holding multiple public roundtables; softening its stance on existing crypto litigation cases with widespread settlements or dismissals; and publishing non-binding disclosure guidelines on crypto token issuance, moving from past 'high-pressure control' to 'transparent co-governance.'
