Overview

• Project Crypto was unveiled on July 31 by SEC Chair Paul Atkins at an America First Policy Institute event, marking a strategic shift from enforcement to collaborative rulemaking for digital assets.
• Atkins has instructed staff to work with the Crypto Task Force and align upcoming rule proposals with recommendations from the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets.
• A principles-based innovation exemption will fast-track novel crypto business models and support tokenization of traditional securities like stocks and bonds.
• The SEC plans to use its interpretative and exemptive authorities to lure offshore crypto firms back to U.S. markets and to update rules for on-chain market integration.
• Bernstein analysts describe the initiative as the boldest and most transformative vision by a sitting SEC chair, predicting it could reshape markets even as crypto prices fluctuate.