On 4 February 2025, Hester M. Peirce, Commissioner of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (‘SEC’), published a comprehensive statement outlining the main aims and objectives of her Crypto Task Force as well as the approach to regulating crypto-assets in the United States. According to the statement, the activities of the above-mentioned task force will focus, inter alia, on the following issues:
- Classification of different types of crypto-assets in the context of securities legislation;
- Identification of areas related to crypto-assets that fall outside the SEC’s jurisdiction;
- Modification of the registration process for token offerings;
- Creation of a regulatory framework for investment advisors allowing them to safely and legally hold the crypto-assets of their clients (alone or through third parties);
- Explanation of whether and if so, how lending and staking of crypto-assets are covered by securities legislation and how these issues may possibly be regulated;
- Cooperation with entities willing to tokenize securities and use blockchain technology to modernize traditional financial markets;
- Creation of a cross-border sandbox that will allow testing (on a limited scale and within a limited timeframe) new innovative solutions proposed by crypto-asset projects that operate or plan to operate on a cross-border basis.
The full statement can be found at the following address:
https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/peirce-journey-begins-020425