“Regulation Crypto Assets is a significant step toward durable, fit-for-purpose rules for crypto in the United States,” said Ashok Pinto, Executive Vice President of Legal and Government Relations at Blockchain Association. “Chairman Atkins and the Commission have given developers a path to raise capital and launch networks here at home, and the safe harbor addresses a question the industry has been asking for years. Our recommendations are focused on making that path workable for the builders it is meant to serve.”
When Managerial Efforts End
The association asked the Commission to publish nonexclusive indicators for when an issuer’s essential managerial efforts have ended. It proposed two: publicly available source code, and the absence of any party able to unilaterally censor transactions or change the network’s rules. It framed both as sufficient but not necessary.
It also asked the SEC to move parts of its recent Howey guidance, including the treatment of airdrops, into the rule itself so the position carries lasting legal weight. Guidance can be withdrawn by a later Commission. Rule text takes a rulemaking to undo.
Filing For Tokens Already Trading
The letter asks that trading platforms and other third parties be allowed to file on behalf of tokens issued before the rule takes effect, that a filing not count as an admission the token was ever a security, and that projects be allowed to submit supporting legal analysis confidentially.
On liability, the association argued that responsibility should follow control: projects accountable for what they control, with third-party applications and community activity outside that. Exchanges, liquidity providers and other market participants relying in good faith on a project’s SEC filing should be protected if the Commission later reaches a different conclusion.
The letter further asks the Commission to strengthen preemption of state registration requirements and to address the intermediary registration questions that secondary market liquidity depends on. It argues onchain transparency can give investors much of what audited financial statements are meant to provide.
“Clear rules give builders the confidence to launch here, users the confidence to participate in markets, and the United States the foundation to lead in this technology,” said Jack Solowey, Senior Counsel for Policy and Regulatory Affairs at Blockchain Association.
Where The Letter Sits
Comments on S7-2026-27 closed Oct. 20 with filings from issuers, law firms and other industry groups. The Blockchain Association letter had not appeared on the association’s own news page or in the SEC’s published comment file at the time of writing; the contents above come from the association’s release. Separately, the Commission’s innovation exemption has already drawn filings from issuers, including Nasdaq-listed Perpetuals last week.
