SEC's Atkins Seeks to Craft Framework that "Future Proofs Crypto Markets Against Regulatory Mischief"

SEC Chair Paul Atkins says ‘very few’ crypto tokens are securities, aims to future-proof crypto against regulatory mischief

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins has reiterated his friendlier approach toward cryptocurrency compared to the previous administration, saying there are “very few” tokens that are securities.

During a Tuesday appearance at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium, Atkins said the SEC would “plow forward and on this idea that just the token itself is not necessarily the security, and probably not.”

“There are very few, in my mind, tokens that are securities, but it depends on what’s the package around it and how that’s being sold,” Atkins added. […]

Howey’s Still Here: A Recent Reminder on the Limits of the SEC’s Crypto Thaw

The U.S. regulatory environment for digital assets has never been more promising for the industry. Since the change in administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has committed to stemming what it has characterized as the hostility of recent years, and the agency’s new leadership has remarked that “despite what the SEC has said in the past, most crypto assets are not securities.”

As a result, tokenization projects — where digital assets reflect so-called real-world assets — are surging. Many innovators are experimenting with tokenizing assets ranging from investment funds to precious metals, and some are already offering investors access to tokenized securities.

But while the SEC can do much to foster this kind of innovation, it is also constrained by the securities laws and how courts interpret them. In that regard, a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in SEC v. Barry serves as a reminder that the Howey test has by no means gone away.

Wyoming Becomes the First to Launch a State-Issued Stablecoin

Wyoming launched its long-promised stablecoin, designed to offer instant transactions and reduced fees for consumers and businesses, in the latest effort by the Cowboy State to attract digital asset businesses.

The Frontier Stable Token, or FRNT, will be backed by dollars and short-term Treasuries and is meant to track the value of the US currency one-for-one. The Wyoming Stable Token Commission is working with LayerZero to issue the tokens and plans for the coins to be overcollateralized by 2%. The reserves backing FRNT are managed by Franklin Advisers with financial audit and monthly attestations provided by The Network Firm. The stablecoin will be available on the the Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, Ethereum, Optimism, Polygon and Solana blockchains.

N.Y. Woman Raised $5.7 Million Through Investor Fraud, SEC Says

A New York woman and her now-dissolved Florida companies defrauded investors in a securities offering by falsely promising exorbitant returns based on her purported stock trading strategy and expertise, the SEC said.

From August 2020 through July 2024, the defendants—Stock Purse Trading LLC, Liston Associates Inc., and Carole A. Liston—raised approximately $5.7 million from more than 200 investors nationwide by misrepresenting Liston’s trading abilities and the safety of the investments, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a complaint filed Monday in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.