SEC chair pushes 'Project Crypto' framework

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins and Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael S. Selig have turned “Project Crypto” into a joint blueprint for how the two agencies plan to regulate U.S. crypto markets. (sec.gov) (cftc.gov) Atkins first launched Project Crypto on July 31, 2025, calling it a commission-wide effort to rewrite securities rules so financial markets could “move on-chain,” or record and settle transactions on blockchain networks. (sec.gov) The joint phase started publicly on January 29, 2026, when Atkins and Selig held a harmonization event at CFTC headquarters and said Congress was close to passing bipartisan crypto market-structure legislation. (sec.gov) (cftc.gov) The core problem is basic: the Securities and Exchange Commission regulates securities, while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulates commodities and derivatives, and crypto tokens have often sat in the gap between those two buckets. (sec.gov) (cftc.gov) On March 17, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued an interpretation saying four crypto asset categories are not securities: digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital tools, and certain payment stablecoins. (sec.gov 1) (sec.gov 2) That same interpretation said “digital securities” — traditional securities that are tokenized — remain under securities law, and it set out how a token sold as part of an investment contract can later stop being treated that way. (sec.gov 1) (sec.gov 2) The agencies also said the framework covers airdrops, protocol mining, protocol staking, and wrapping a non-security crypto asset, with the CFTC administering the Commodity Exchange Act consistently with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s interpretation. (sec.gov) (cftc.gov) Atkins has paired that interpretation with a separate “Regulation Crypto Assets” concept modeled on Commissioner Hester Peirce’s earlier token safe harbor proposal, which would give crypto projects a clearer compliance path while networks decentralize. (sec.gov) The personnel shift is part of the story. Atkins was sworn in as the 34th Securities and Exchange Commission chairman on April 21, 2025, and Selig was sworn in as the 16th Commodity Futures Trading Commission chairman on December 22, 2025. (sec.gov) (cftc.gov) Their message is that crypto markets should not be forced into one regulator’s box by default, and that the next step is a coordinated rulebook rather than case-by-case fights over jurisdiction. (sec.gov) (cftc.gov)