TLDR
US regulators SEC and CFTC have adopted joint, function based guidance that splits digital assets into five buckets and clarifies which tokens are securities versus commodities.
- The new framework defines five categories and makes only digital securities subject to full securities registration, with other tokens generally treated as commodities.
- Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), stablecoins, memecoins and NFTs are treated differently, which could reshape listing standards, custody and derivatives markets.
- The move is guidance, not legislation, and could face court challenges or policy shifts, so the real test will be future enforcement actions and rulemakings.
Deep Dive
1. What Changed In The Rules
The SEC adopted commission voted, function based guidance that replaces its older, Howey first approach to digital assets, according to a regulatory summary from Tokenpost. The guidance defines five categories: digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital utilities, stablecoins, and digital securities or tokenized securities, with only the last group subject to securities law registration or an exemption, as described in the new interpretation.
The SEC now focuses less on sufficient decentralization and more on whether issuers still have material, publicly promised managerial or operational obligations to token holders. If those obligations have been fulfilled, non security assets can keep trading without being treated as ongoing securities offerings. Airdrops, mining and staking are generally described as non security transactions in this framework. The CFTC joined the interpretation and signaled that non security assets fall under its commodity authority, giving a clearer split of jurisdiction across the two agencies.
The core question becomes whether there is an active issuer with binding obligations, which directly affects whether a token must go through securities style registration.
2. How Different Tokens Are Treated
CFTC Chair Michael Selig has publicly distinguished Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana from memecoins, saying the latter fit a digital collectibles label with higher manipulation risk because issuers may hold large supplies and influence prices, according to a recent interview reported by TradingViews Benzinga coverage. Under the joint framework, those collectibles sit in the non security bucket but face stricter listing and market abuse standards at regulated venues.
Stablecoins are recognized as a separate category. The interpretation and related commentary frame them as liquidity tools that help investors stay in the system without selling assets, but they remain subject to other prudential and payments rules outside securities law. Tokenized stocks and ETFs generally fall into digital securities or tokenized securities, meaning venues must ensure those tokens actually carry the same rights as the underlying shares before trading them, as highlighted by recent SEC guidance on tokenized equities.
Major layer 1s and many utility tokens could see cleaner commodity style treatment, while stablecoins and tokenized equities face more tailored, and potentially heavier, regulatory regimes.
3. Open Questions And What To Watch
This guidance is an agency level interpretation, not a statute, so it can be revised by future SEC or CFTC leadership and challenged in court. Analysts such as Galaxy Researchs Alex Thorn have argued the framework could improve predictability and institutional demand, but also noted that passage of the stalled CLARITY bill would put the categories on firmer legislative footing.
At the same time, the CFTC is pushing a broader federal crypto rulebook and new leverage rules for spot platforms, alongside proposals to classify event prediction contracts as swaps and separate casino style gambling products, as detailed in recent CFTC notices hosted on CoinMarketCaps community portal. Those rulemakings show regulators intend to build detailed market structure around the new categories. Key signals to watch include enforcement actions that test the line between digital securities and digital commodities, stablecoin specific rules, and any Congressional move to codify or override the agencies framework.
The categories are a meaningful step toward clarity, but the practical impact will depend on how aggressively the SEC and CFTC enforce them and whether Congress eventually locks them into law.
Conclusion
The SEC and CFTC are moving from case by case interpretations toward a structured taxonomy for digital assets, separating securities style tokens from commodities, utilities, collectibles and stablecoins. That can reduce uncertainty for major coins and infrastructure projects while tightening expectations around memecoins, NFTs and tokenized equities. Until legislation and court rulings catch up, however, crypto users should treat this as an evolving baseline and watch enforcement, venue rulebooks and stablecoin policy for the next wave of changes.
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