SEC proposal would open a legal token issuance path in the U.S. by centering disclosure, not merit review

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has released a 402-page crypto asset regulation proposal that would create two exemptions for new crypto projects to issue tokens to users and investors without violating securities laws, according to the article. The proposal keeps anti-fraud rules in place and bars "bad actors" from participating, while requiring issuers relying on either exemption to provide principle-based narrative disclosures. The piece argues that the framework marks a return to the SEC’s original disclosure-first mandate: regulators should make sure investors receive the facts they need, then let them decide for themselves rather than passing judgment on the quality of the investment. It places the proposal in the historical context of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1933 message to Congress, Louis Brandeis’s view that disclosure works as a market disinfectant, and former SEC Chair Joseph Kennedy’s explanation that the agency was not created to approve securities. The article also points to Blockworks’ Token Transparency Framework, launched in June 2025, where 75 protocols have filed standardized disclosures and 69 exchanges, custodians and asset managers have joined an alliance that uses those filings in due diligence.