SEC–CFTC name 16 commodities
The SEC and CFTC issued joint interpretive guidance that explicitly classifies Bitcoin, Ether, Solana and 13 other leading tokens as “digital commodities,” settling years of uncertainty and covering staking, mining and airdrops. This legal clarity opens product and listing windows for exchanges and institutions while signaling potential safe‑harbor and exemptive frameworks to follow. (natlawreview.com)
The interpretive release’s example roster names 16 digital commodities by example: Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), XRP, Cardano (ADA), Avalanche (AVAX), Chainlink (LINK), Polkadot (DOT), Hedera (HBAR), Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Stellar (XLM), Tezos (XTZ) and Aptos (APT). (fintechweekly.com) The document is Interpretive Release No. 33‑11412, issued March 17, 2026, and the agencies published a 68‑page token taxonomy that sorts assets into five categories: digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital tools, stablecoins, and digital securities. (sec.gov) (defiprime.com) The SEC’s fact sheet explicitly clarifies treatment of common network activities — protocol staking, protocol mining, the wrapping of a non‑security crypto asset, and certain airdrops — explaining when those activities do not create an investment contract under federal securities laws. (sec.gov) The CFTC announced it will administer the Commodity Exchange Act “consistent with the Commission’s interpretation,” formally aligning the CFTC’s derivatives/commodity oversight role with the SEC’s taxonomy for the named non‑security assets. (cftc.gov) SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins framed the release as ending “more than a decade of uncertainty” and the text instructs publication in the Federal Register while soliciting public comment, signaling the agencies may refine the approach and consider conditional exemptive or safe‑harbor mechanisms in follow‑on rulemaking. (sec.gov) (gtlaw.com) Legal practitioners and market analysis note the interpretive release supersedes the SEC staff’s 2019 framework and the Commission intends to apply the new interpretation in staff enforcement and examinations going forward. (gtlaw.com) (chapman.com)
