SEC & CFTC unify crypto rules
The SEC and CFTC issued joint guidance that creates a clear taxonomy for digital assets and signals an end to the “securities of everything” era — Congress also scheduled a tokenization hearing for March 25 and senators reached an agreement in principle on CLARITY Act stablecoin yield language. This legal clarity reduces a major source of uncertainty for crypto infrastructure and institutional adoption. (en.coin-turk.com) (coinpedia.org)
The SEC and CFTC issued a joint interpretive release on March 17, 2026, formally clarifying how federal securities laws apply to particular crypto assets and transactions and saying the interpretation will be published in the Federal Register. (sec.gov) The agencies set out a coherent token taxonomy that identifies five categories—digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital tools, stablecoins, and digital securities—to classify assets based on characteristics, uses and functions. (sec.gov) The guidance explicitly carves out payment stablecoins, digital collectibles and digital commodities as non-securities and specifies how activities such as airdrops, protocol mining, staking and “wrapping” are treated under the securities laws. (bloomberg.com) SEC leadership said the agency will propose a safe-harbor rule to let crypto startups access capital while avoiding enforcement risk, with the proposed safe-harbor period described as lasting up to four years in media coverage of the rollout. (bloomberg.com) A full House Financial Services Committee hearing titled “Tokenization and the Future of Securities: Modernizing Our Capital Markets” is scheduled for March 25, 2026 at 10:00 AM in 2128 Rayburn House Office Building, putting Congressional scrutiny on tokenized securities the week after the agencies’ interpretive release. (congress.gov) Key Senate negotiators reported an “agreement in principle” on the CLARITY Act’s stablecoin-yield language on March 20, 2026, with Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks and White House officials involved in the talks, a breakthrough that sources say would limit or bar rewards on passive stablecoin balances. (politico.com)
