By Hannah Lang
(Reuters) – The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Cryptody Task Force held its first public meeting with experts on Friday, focusing on how securities laws apply to digital assets as the Trump administration seeks to review cryptocurrency regulations.
Among the participants in the Round Table were former chief chief of the SEC’s Internet Enforcement Bureau, Miles Jennings, General Counsel of Crypto Arm, A16Z, and former SEC Commissioner Troyparedes. Republican Second Commissioner Hester Peirce leads the task force accused of developing crypto rules and guidance.
“Spring means a new beginning, and there is a new beginning here. This is the resumption of the Commission’s approach to crypto regulations,” Perth said.
The crypto industry has long been in conflict with regulators over how federal securities laws are converted into digital assets, with many claiming that crypto tokens are similar to products. Tokens classified as securities will require the company to register with the SEC and provide certain disclosures to investors.
Promising to become “crypto president,” President Donald Trump has pledged to reverse industry crackdowns under former President Joe Biden’s SEC. The new SEC leadership agrees to withdraw or suspend many of these cases.
The task force on Friday discussed whether Crypto Tokens would require a new separate regulatory framework that differs from the way the SEC oversees securities such as stocks.
Jennings urges the SEC to take a “technology-neutral” approach, “seeing what distinguishes systems like Ethereum from Apple’s ownership of equity.”
Some people, including Democrat SEC commissioner Caroline Crenshaw, have expressed concern that regulators will loosen cryptocurrency rules by allowing them to operate under a clear regime.
“Changing the law to promote the success of selected product categories is risky,” Crenshaw said. “The risk of not only weakening regulatory protections in that category, but also denying the domino effect in other areas of the market protected by the same law.”
The task force’s first roundtable comes as Trump is trying to broadly rethink its policy towards cryptocurrency. Earlier this month, Trump signed an executive order to establish strategic preparations for cryptocurrency, holding a summit for industry leaders at the White House.
(Reporting by Hannah Lang of New York, Edited by Bill Velcrott)