SEC

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed a new regulatory framework that would allow qualifying crypto ventures to raise as much as $75 million annually without registering the offering under the standard Securities Act process. The Regulation Crypto Assets proposal unveiled August 18 creates two exemptions specifically for certain investment contracts involving crypto assets. One would permit startups to raise up to $5 million during a four-year period, while the second would allow offerings of up to $75 million…

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will vote Friday on whether to propose a new offering framework specifically designed for certain investment contracts involving crypto assets. The open meeting is scheduled for August 14 at 10 a.m. ET at the SEC’s Washington headquarters, with public access available through the agency’s webcast. The Division of Corporation Finance is presenting the proposal to commissioners. Approval would move the framework into formal rulemaking rather than make the new requirements immediately effective. SEC Targets…

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said crypto vaults and onchain lending strategies may fall within federal securities laws when operators make managerial decisions over user assets, lending terms or yield allocation. Vaults typically use smart contracts to deploy deposited crypto across staking, lending and other yield-generating strategies. Peirce said their legal treatment will depend on how much control remains with immutable code and how much is exercised by deployers, curators or other managers. A vault could constitute an investment contract when…

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will pay $150,000 and revise its record-retention policies to settle a Coinbase-backed Freedom of Information Act lawsuit over communications involving former Chair Gary Gensler. History Associates filed the case in June 2024 on Coinbase’s behalf after the agency withheld records requested from senior SEC officials. The settlement ends the dispute after the agency acknowledged that text messages from Gensler’s government-issued phone were lost through an automated device-wiping process. Paul Grewal disclosed the settlement terms…

Senate Republicans are pushing a merged CLARITY Act draft toward the floor without the Democratic support needed to clear a filibuster, leaving the crypto market-structure bill exposed to a narrowing pre-recess calendar. The latest draft combines work from the Senate Banking and Agriculture committees and adds more than 70 pages to the legislation that cleared Banking in May. Republicans briefed President Donald Trump on the revised framework Thursday, but Sen. Ruben Gallego, one of the Democrats involved in negotiations, said…

Sen. Cynthia Lummis said the Senate’s updated Digital Asset Market Clarity Act text will be introduced within days after nearly 10 months of negotiations, opening a narrow window for floor action before lawmakers leave Washington in August. “We’ve been working on the Clarity Act every day for 10 months,” Lummis wrote in a July 14 post, adding that lawmakers were ready to “land this plane.” She placed the likely floor window during the week of July 20 in a Fox…

The CLARITY Act is entering a three-week Senate window with no floor vote scheduled and several disputes still separating the crypto market-structure bill from the 60 votes needed to advance. H.R. 3633 would place secondary trading in digital commodities under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission while preserving Securities and Exchange Commission authority over securities, initial token offerings and related disclosures. The Senate Banking Committee advanced the bill 15-9 on May 14, with Democratic Sens. Ruben Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks joining…

Kraken parent Payward won a $22 million arbitration award against Mazars USA after the audit firm withdrew from Kraken’s nearly complete 2022 financial audit. Payward has asked the Delaware Court of Chancery to enter final judgment against Mazars, turning the confidential arbitration win into a court-enforceable award. The dispute centers on Mazars’ December 2023 withdrawal, which came days before the 2022 audit was expected to be completed. Mazars had already audited Kraken’s financial statements for three years and delivered two…

The CLARITY Act missed the White House’s July 4 signing target, leaving the Senate with a compressed window to finish crypto market-structure legislation before lawmakers leave for the August recess. The bill is designed to split digital-asset oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, with registration paths for exchanges, brokers, dealers and other market intermediaries. Senate Banking advanced the measure in a 15-9 committee vote on May 14, but the bill still needs a full…