The US Securities and Exchange Commission has placed a broad set of crypto asset rule proposals on its 2026 agenda, targeting crypto broker-dealers, alternative trading systems, digital asset trading on national securities exchanges, and new exemption and safe harbor frameworks. According to the draft agenda, the plan was prepared in line with crypto policy positions taken by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Rulemaking agenda centers on three fronts
The SEC’s draft package focuses on three core areas. One concerns the treatment of crypto broker-dealers and alternative trading systems. Another addresses how digital assets are traded on national securities exchanges. A third would introduce new exemptions and safe harbor rules tied to digital assets. SEC Chair Paul Atkins said clearer processes are needed for capital raising that uses tokenized securities and digital assets.
The agency said one proposal on the issuance and sale of crypto assets could create stronger legal certainty for the market, make capital formation simpler, and leave more room for innovation. At the same time, the SEC said investor protection remains a priority and that market participants should have access to the information they need.
Congress may still redraw the map
The SEC’s preparations arrive while Congress is debating legislation that could reshape how the crypto market is supervised in the US. If the bill becomes law, a substantial share of oversight and enforcement authority could move from the SEC to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC. That leaves the agency’s current rulemaking effort exposed to a larger political and legislative contest.
Atkins had said in March that the SEC would use an internal transition mechanism to develop crypto policy and improve clarity. He also stated that if Congress passes new legislation, the final structure would be determined by lawmakers rather than by the agency alone.
Political criticism has become sharper
The SEC’s approach to crypto under the Trump administration has drawn strong criticism from some lawmakers. Earlier this year, Democratic members of Congress sent a letter alleging that certain people connected to crypto companies that had previously faced enforcement actions or regulatory scrutiny had profited financially. The letter named major firms including Binance, Coinbase, Ripple Labs, and Kraken.
Three Democratic lawmakers also argued that, even after federal court rulings identifying some tokens as securities, Atkins’s statements that most crypto tokens are not securities created enforcement gaps and left US investors exposed. Their view is that the absence of consequences for participants accused of breaking securities laws has weakened enforcement.
Trump links crypto interest to politics
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump acknowledged that his interest in crypto is at least partly political. The report notes that after his first term, he had called Bitcoin a scam and kept his distance from cryptocurrencies. More recently, with the 2024 election drawing closer, he has engaged with industry representatives and publicly backed the technology.
The SEC remains the main federal watchdog for US capital markets. Even so, the dispute over which crypto products count as securities and which agency should police the sector has become one of Washington’s most contested regulatory fights in recent years. By laying out a 2026 crypto rulemaking agenda now, the SEC has shown that federal planning is moving ahead, even as the final regulatory boundaries remain unsettled.