Bitcoin’s $113,000 case strengthens as US regulators push 9 crypto actions

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a custody framework on Oct. 1 that would let investment advisers and regulated funds hold crypto under rules written for it.

It is the latest of nine agency actions since Aug. 18 that span most of an asset's life, from fundraising to safekeeping. Two came before the Senate rejected cloture on the CLARITY Act on Sept. 15, a 49-50 vote with 60 required, and seven came from Sept. 17 on.

Their legal status runs from live exemptions to pre-rule White House review, and that status determines what a crypto business can use today.

The SEC's Regulation Crypto Assets proposal, issued Aug. 18 before the vote, would create an offering regime for certain investment contracts involving crypto assets.

It includes exemptions for up to $5 million over four years and $75 million in a 12-month period, plus a conditional safe harbor from the investment-contract definition. It is a proposal with comments due Oct. 20.

On Sept. 25, SEC Corporation Finance staff published FAQs covering token functionality, decentralization, staking receipt tokens, marketing, continued network building, buybacks and secondary-market promoters, and updated them Sept. 28.

The SEC describes the FAQs as staff views that leave the law as written, and they give projects a detailed map of how staff approaches investment-contract analysis.

A Sept. 1 transfer-agent proposal, also issued before the vote, addresses electronic and blockchain-based recordkeeping and uncertificated securities. That rewrite of the shareholder-record layer beneath tokenized securities sits at the proposal stage.

On Sept. 17, the SEC granted its Innovation Exemption, a five-year conditional exemption letting qualifying Tokenized Securities Venues trade tokenized NMS stocks through permissioned automated market makers and liquidity pools.

Certain liquidity providers receive conditional dealer relief. It is a live exemption, temporary and limited to tokenized stocks on qualifying venues.

The same day, CFTC staff took a no-action position covering passive software providers that connect users to registered futures firms and markets. Wallets and interfaces get a clearer route into regulated derivatives when they meet the specified conditions.

As a staff position, the relief sits below a Commission rule or a statute in legal weight.

On Sept. 24, CFTC staff updated its crypto and blockchain FAQs to address customer-funded investments in tokenized forms of permitted investments and the use of blockchain technology for certain recordkeeping requirements.

Tokenization moves from the trade itself into the plumbing of regulated financial firms.

On Sept. 28, the CFTC registered Coinbase Clearing LLC as a derivatives clearing organization permitted to clear fully collateralized futures, options on futures and swaps. The registration covers that entity and those product types, and it shows regulated crypto-native infrastructure reaching the clearing layer.

The Oct. 1 SEC proposal would create a custom custody framework for registered investment advisers, registered investment companies and other regulated funds. It would permit self-custody in certain circumstances, recognize state trust companies as custodians for client and fund crypto assets, and give regulated funds access to a wider range of crypto-related strategies.