The 90-day proposal outlines specific actions for each SEC division. For instance, the group recommends that the SEC’s Division of Enforcement review active crypto-related litigation, as well as pending notices of potential enforcement actions. The group further suggests that any crypto-related enforcement actions that do not involve fraud should be resolved through voluntary dismissals or favorable settlements, with no admission of wrongdoing required. Additionally, the group proposes retooling the size and scope of the Enforcement Division’s Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit.
The Digital Chamber also called for other SEC divisions to withdraw or reconsider several proposed rules that the crypto industry has deemed problematic. These include the expansion of the SEC’s definition of an exchange to include decentralized finance entities, as well as the controversial Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, which mandates that banks track digital assets held in custody on their balance sheets.
The proposal also recommends that the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance issue no-action letters and exemptive relief to clarify that investment contracts are not necessarily equity securities. The group calls for the SEC to provide staff analysis regarding when digital assets fall under securities laws and to create a provisional definition that is more precise than the existing “Howey test,” a 1946 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that defines investment contracts.
