SEC/CFTC Say Crypto = Commodities
The SEC and CFTC jointly ruled most digital assets are not securities and formally classified 16 digital assets as commodities — a landmark clarity move that clears regulatory uncertainty for financial and insurance products. Expect faster institutional adoption and new insurance workflows tied to digital‑commodity custody, AML screening, and transactional risk. (bitcoinmagazine.com)
Interpretive Release No. 33‑11412 was published March 17, 2026 as a 68‑page joint SEC/CFTC document that establishes a five‑category token taxonomy for federal law—digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital tools, stablecoins, and digital securities. (sec.gov) The release explicitly names 16 major crypto assets as “digital commodities,” citing examples that include Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, XRP, Cardano, Avalanche, Polkadot, Chainlink, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu among the named tokens. (cryptonewsbytes.com) The agencies write that common network activities—airdrops, protocol mining, protocol staking and the wrapping of a non‑security asset—do not, by themselves, make a token a security under the Federal securities laws. (sec.gov) The interpretive release is intended to guide SEC staff and CFTC administration (and will be published in the Federal Register), but the document is an agency interpretation applied prospectively and does not eliminate the Howey test or pending Congressional bills such as the CLARITY Act. (sec.gov) Insurance market capacity and product examples already in place include Marsh’s global digital‑asset custodian facility offering up to $825 million in cover and Crypto.com’s $120 million crime/specie coverage arranged by Aon—policies insurers use to underwrite custody and theft risk for crypto held offline or via MPC. (marsh.com) Market‑facing guidance from insurers and brokers urges due diligence on custody architecture, contractual indemnities and limits of coverage; Marsh’s underwriting guidance specifically highlights aligning insurance scope to custody design and vendor controls as firms transition named tokens to a clearer regulatory bucket. (marsh.com)
